Geoffrey Blainey Books

In Volume II of The Story of Australia's People, Geoffrey Blainey continues his account of the history of this country from the early Gold Rush to the present day, completing the story of our nation and its people. When Europeans crossed the world to plant a new society in an unknown land, traditional life for Australia's first inhabitants changed forever. For the new arrivals, Australia was a land that rewarded, tricked, tantalised and often defeated. From the Gold Rush to Land Rights and the Digital Age, Blainey brings to life the key events of more recent times that have shaped us into the nation and people we are today. Compelling, groundbreaking and brilliantly readable, The Story of Australia's People Volume II is the second instalment of an ambitious two-part work, and the culmination of the lifework of Australia's most prolific and wide-ranging historian.

In his late-eighties, Geoffrey Blainey reflects on his formative years growing up in rural Victoria as the son of a Methodist minister. His childhood experiences, from climbing rooftops to gaze at the Great Dividing Range to his early fascination with history and current affairs during WWII, shaped his lifelong passion for learning. A scholarship to Wesley College and later studies at the University of Melbourne further developed his historical insights. This memoir not only chronicles his personal journey but also offers a rich social history of Australia.

Triumph of the Nomads, Geoffrey Blainey's thirteenth book, is a startling reassessment of the Aborigines in early Australia. Rather than being prisoners in a hostile continent, the Aborigines were a successful race —triumphant in their discovery of the land, triumphant in their adaptation to it, and in their mastery of its contrasting climates, seasons and resources. Triumph of the Nomads was co-winner of the Barbara Ramsden Award for Literature, 1976, and was highly commended by the National Book Council in 1976. "Triumph of the Nomads...presents a case for the Aborigines that the traditionally-minded will find as startling as some critics declared the thesis of The Tyranny of Distance to be." --AGE "unflaggingly interesting, persuasively argued and beautifully written" --AUSTRALIAN "He succeeds, as he did before with The Tyranny of Distance in producing an original, interesting book, by asking the bread-and-butter economic questions." --BULLETIN SUN AUSTRALIA

In the bestselling Black Kettle and Full Moon, master storyteller Geoffrey Blainey takes us on another absorbing journey – a guided tour of a vanished Australia. Covering the years from the first gold rush to World War I. Blainey paints a fascinating picture of how our forebears lived – in the outback, in towns and cities, at sea and on land. He looks at all aspects of daily life, from billycans to brass bands, from ice-making to etiquette, from pipes to pubs. The engaging text is further brought alive by an evocative selection of contemporary illustrations by artists such as Julian Ashton. This is Geoffrey Blainey doing what he does best bringing to life for the modern reader the sighs and sounds and smells of another time.

Following the success of his A Short History of the World, eminent historian Geoffrey Blainey has abridged his account of the grand adventure of human history to create ad eve more accesible version of his absorbing work. A Very Short History of the World traces the story of the world's people during the last four million years, beginning before the human race moved out of Africa to explore and settle other continents. A consummate storyteller, Professor Blainey makes the past come alive as he touches on the trivial and the grand: everything from changes in diet to profound discoveries and mighty empires.

Christianity has played a central role in world history, for better or worse, but beyond the life of Jesus many people know little of this story. Geoffrey Blainey takes the reader on a journey from the very beginnings of Christianity through to the present day.

Compelling and groundbreaking, this first installment of an ambitious two-part work represents the culmination of Australia's most prolific historian's lifelong efforts. The vast continent was settled in two main waves: the first by Indigenous peoples around 50,000 years ago when Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea were connected, and the second by Europeans at the end of the eighteenth century. Each group had to navigate and understand the land they encountered, as well as each other. The long Aboriginal occupation saw significant changes, with rising seas isolating the continent and preserving a nomadic lifestyle, while agriculture transformed other regions. Over millennia, Aboriginal people adeptly mastered the land's climates and resources. However, traditional ways of life faced threats as Europeans arrived to establish a new society in an unfamiliar territory, which both challenged and rewarded the newcomers. The intersection of these two cultures is one of history's most complex encounters. In this work, Professor Geoffrey Blainey revisits themes from his earlier celebrated books, retelling Australia's history up to 1850 with fresh insights based on the latest research, altering his views on key aspects of Indigenous and early British history while exploring new dimensions.

'Uma breve história do século XX' traz uma descrição vibrante e apaixonada dos cem anos mais fascinantes da história. As duas maiores guerras, a ascensão e queda dos regimes comunistas, o maior colapso econômico já vivido, o declínio das monarquias e dos grandes impérios da Europa - tudo isso com emoção e intensidade. Nessa fantástica viagem, cada fato é exibido com exatidão e sagacidade. E cada triunfo é revelado com dinamismo e entusiasmo, como em um emocionante filme sobre o nosso passado.

Tyto dějiny sledují historii lidstva během posledních čtyř miliónů let. Člověka představují těsně předtím, než první lidé vyšli z Afriky objevovat a osidlovat další světadíly, a loučí se s ním v polovině 20. století. Staletí a tisíciletí existence lidstva se tu odvíjejí jako mistrovsky vyprávěný a napínavý příběh. Úctyhodná šíře znalostí, velký vypravěčský talent a hluboká lidská moudrost dovolují autorovi, aby oživil minulost a sepsal dějiny, v nichž nechybí rozhodující okamžiky, které určovaly další směr vývoje.

Stručný přehled australských dějin, ve kterém je hlavní pozornost věnována dějinám přistěhovalců a okrajová též dějinám původních obyvatel. Monografie. Hospodářské a politické dějiny kontinentu, kde se prolínají kulturní okruhy - západní (přistěhovalci), východní (vyspělé asijské civilizace) - s kulturou původních obyvatel. Závěrečná kapitola o Češích v Austrálii. Kniha o dějinách kontinentu, který je u nás znám spíše pro pozoruhodnosti přírodovědné. Autorem je přední australský historik, jenž čtivým a srozumitelným způsobem zachycuje osudy teritoria obydleného původně pouze domorodým obyvatelstvem, k němuž se postupně připojila pestrá směsice obyvatel z celého světa. Text je doplněn kapitolou o prvních českých cestovatelích v Austrálii i o osudech krajanů.