Pastoral Australia tells the story of the expansion of Australia's pastoral industry, how it drove European settlement and involved Aboriginal people in the new settler society. The rural life that once saw Australia 'ride on the sheep's back' is no longer what defines us, yet it is largely our history as a pastoral nation that has endured in heritage places and which is embedded in our self-image as Australians. The challenges of sustaining a pastoral industry in Australia make a compelling story of their own. Developing livestock breeds able to prosper in the Australian environment was an ongoing challenge, as was getting wool and meat to market. Many stock routes, wool stores, abattoirs, wharf facilities, railways, roads, and river and ocean transport systems that were developed to link the pastoral interior with the urban and market infrastructure still survive. Windmills, fences, homesteads, shearing sheds, bores, stock yards, travelling stock routes, bush roads and railheads all changed the look of the country. These features of our landscape form an important part of our heritage. They are symbols of a pastoral Australia, and of the foundations of our national identity, which will endure long into the future.

John Kinsella's essays are concerned with culture, place, and poetic language. From the 'city' to the 'bush', and with 'prospect' and 'refuge' of landscape in mind, his focus is up close. Looking at region through an international lens, he examines subjects as diverse as the pastoral tradition, the flag, forest protests, the meanings of the letterbox, the Western Australian wheatbelt, racism and opera. Describing himself as an international regionalist, in contradistinction to a nationalist, he is always willing to challenge his audience. This gathering of John Kinsella's writings about the intersections of location and writing is a rich contribution to the project of a new language for country . . . John Kinsella's mind starts with a convention and then proceeds to investigate it, testing a settled term like the pastoral, for instance, against his deep knowledge of the inner veins of Australian poetry, and his memory of wheatbins and Nyungar stookers. In an age when monolingualism and monoculturalism have become the watchwords of the powerful, it is a liberation to read these essays in passionate individualism. - Philip Mead

Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse societies in the world today. From its ancient indigenous origins to British colonisation followed by waves of European then international migration in the twentieth century, the island continent is home to people from all over the globe. Each new wave of settlers has had a profound impact on Australian society and culture. The Australian People documents the dramatic history of Australian settlement and describes the rich ethnic and cultural inheritance of the nation through the contributions of its people. It is one of the largest reference works of its kind, with approximately 250 expert contributors and almost one million words. Illustrated in colour and black and white, the book is both a comprehensive encyclopedia and a survey of the controversial debates about citizenship and multiculturalism now that Australia has attained the centenary of its federation.

In any settler and/or postcolonial society, heritage is a complex and contested topic that involves indigenous, imperial and other migrant components. In Australia, this situation is compounded by the unique characteristics of the country's natural environment, the considerable diversity of its migrant intake and the demographic and technological imbalances between its indigenous and settler populations. This volume brings together internationally recognized academics and emerging scholars, whose expertise extends through the areas of tourism, planning, heritage management, environmental studies and state and local government. Through a representative set of case studies from across the country's states and capital cities, the contributors demonstrate the range and diversity of heritage issues currently confronting Australia, and consider possible ways of resolving these.