Geoffrey Blainey

Brilliantly narrated by a distinguished historian, this is 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 the other continents. Photos. Maps.

A Short History of the World

In 1768 Captain James Cook and his crew set sail on a small British naval vessel, the boldly named Endeavour, bound for the Pacific Ocean. He was ordered to establish an observatory at Tahiti in order to record the 1769 transit of Venus, and - with the skills of naturalist Joseph Banks and his team - to collect natural history in this far part of the world. But Cook's brief also included a secret mission from the British Admiralty- to discover Terra Australis Incognita, an unknown southern land that might prove to be larger and richer than Australia. Cook was not alone in this quest, and the Endeavour shared the Coral Sea and coastal New Zealand with an armed French merchant ship commanded by Jean de Surville. Eventually in 1770 Cook's ship crossed the Tasman Sea and reached the southern coast of New South Wales. Sailing north, he charted Australia's eastern coastline and claimed it for Great Britain. It was the most significant of Cook's voyages, transforming the world map and the way Europeans viewed the South Pacific Ocean and its lands and peoples. On this 250th anniversary of his major discovery, Captain Cook's Epic Voyage reveals the hardships, adventure and achievements of Cook's most important voyage. Reshaping his previous book, Sea of Dangers, Professor Geoffrey Blainey takes us on a vivid journey, challenging accepted views and the intersection of myth, science and exploration.

Captain Cook’s Epic Voyage

Em 'Uma Breve História do Século XX', o leitor encontrará uma descrição de cem anos da história. O livro conta sobre as duas maiores guerras, a ascensão e queda dos regimes comunistas, o colapso econômico, o declínio das monarquias e dos impérios da Europa, entre outros.

Uma breve história do século XX

The vast continent of Australia was settled in two main streams, far apart in time and origin. The first came ashore some 50,000 years ago when the islands of Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea were one. The second began to arrive from Europe at the end of the eighteenth century. Each had to come to terms with the land they found, and each had to make sense of the other. The long Aboriginal occupation of Australia witnessed spectacular changes. The rising of the seas isolated the continent and preserved a nomadic way of life, while agriculture was revolutionising other parts of the world. Over millennia, the Aboriginal people mastered the land's climates, seasons and resources. Traditional Aboriginal life came under threat the moment Europeans crossed the world to plant a new society in an unknown land. That land in turn rewarded, tricked, tantalised and often defeated the new arrivals. The meeting of the two cultures is one of the most difficult and complex meetings in recorded history. In this book Professor Geoffrey Blainey returns first to the subject of his celebrated works on Australian history, Triumph of the Nomads (1975) and A Land Half Won (1980), retelling the story of our history up until 1850 in light of the latest research. He has changed his view about vital aspects of the Indigenous and early British history of this land, and looked at other aspects for the first time. Compelling, groundbreaking and brilliantly readable, The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia is the first instalment of an ambitious two-part work, and the culmination of the lifework of Australia's most prolific and wide-ranging historian. 'Absorbing and important ... the first volume of an ambitious work on the peopling of this continent from its human origins to our own day...bold, rich, wise, authioritative and questioning.' Peter Stanley, The Age 'The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia situates pre-invasion Aboriginal society as a triumphant culture with much to celebrate.' John Maynard, The Age 'Blainey has produced a book that all Australians could and, dare I say it, should read . . . I very much look forward to the next instalment of his bold, rich, wise, wry, authoritative and questioning trilogy.' Canberra Times 'This is the real story of Australia, at last.' Courier Mail 'Blainey delivers a brilliant narrative on Australia's settlement.' Australian Geographic

The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia

The Story of Australia’s People

A broad, concise and inclusive vision of Australia and Australians by one our most renowned historians. After a lifetime of research and debate on Australian and international history, Geoffrey Blainey is well-placed to introduce us to the people who have played a part and to guide us through the events that have created the Australian identity: the mania for spectator sport; the suspicion of the tall poppy; the rivalries of Catholic and Protestant, Sydney and Melbourne, new and old homelands and new and old allies; the conflicts of war abroad and race at home; the importance of technology; defining the outback; the rise and rise of the mining industry; the recognition of our Aboriginal past and Native Title; the successes and failures of the nation. For this enlarged edition Blainey has rewritten or expanded on various episodes and themes and updated relevant matter. He has described significant events and trends of the early-20th century. A ready-reference timeline of major events in Australian history is also included. The Shorter history of Australia is a must for every home and library.

A Shorter History of Australia

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.

The Rise and Rise of a New Australia

The Story of Australia's People Volume 2

The Story of Australia's People Volume 1

Uma breve história do Cristianismo

Em 'Uma Breve História do Mundo', o autor faz um balanço da saga da humanidade, compilada desde seus primórdios até os dias contemporâneos. Blainey procura descrever a geografia das civilizações e analisar o legado de seus povos, entrelaçando a história de um povo a outro.

Uma Breve Historia Do Mundo

Now in his late-eighties, and listed by the National Trust as a 'Living Treasure', in Before I Forget Geoffrey Blainey reflects on his humble beginnings as the son of a Methodist Minister and school teacher, one of five children, and a carefree childhood spent in rural Victoria, from Terang to Leongatha, Geelong to Ballarat. From a young age these places ignited for Blainey a great affection for the Australian landscape, and a deep curiosity in Australia's history. He longed to travel, and would climb atop the roof of their home to stare out at the Great Dividing Range and imagine the world beyond. His mother created gardens wherever they went and had literary ambitions of her own; his father spent more on books than he could ever afford, and the library travelled with the family. Blainey's devotion to the Geelong Football Club began in Newtown from where he'd watch his team play at Corio, and as a newsboy he developed an early interest in current affairs, following the dramas and triumphs of the Second World War and the political careers of local identities John Curtin and Robert Menzies. With a burning desire to see Sydney but barely a penny to his name, he hitched there with a schoolfriend to see the harbour that greeted the First Fleet, and visited the national theatre of Parliament House on the way home to see Billy Hughes, JT Lang, Arty Fadden, Arthur Calwell, Enid Lyons and hero Ben Chifley in action. The course of Blainey's life changed when he was awarded a scholarship to board at Wesley College in Melbourne - an opportunity that instilled in him a great love of learning, under the tutelage of a group of inspiring teachers. This flourished further at the University of Melbourne, first as a wide-eyed student at Queen's Collage, where he was lectured by Manning Clarke, and later as a professor of history. Later he and Manning Clarke became great friends, both sitting on the Whitlam Government's new Literature Board. Hours spent at Melbourne's State Library as a student poring over the country's old newspapers cemented his calling to become a professional historian. Like Clarke Blainey has always been compelled to visit the places of our historical interest, including places of archaeological and Indigenous significance. Now the author of over forty books, Geoffrey Blainey claims he has discovered Australia's history his own way - and is still learning. Warm, insightful and lyrically written, Before I Forget recounts the experiences and influences that have shaped the astonishing mind of Australia's most loved historian. But in this book Blainey has given us something more - a fascinating and affectionate social history in and of itself.

Before I Forget

How Distance Shaped Australia's History

The Tyranny of Distance

Jumping Over the Wheel

A comprehensive history of the AMP, one of Australia's leading financial institutions

A History of the AMP 1848-1998

Australian Broadcasting Commission

A history of Australia based on the ABC television series of the same name.

The Blainey View

This new book from celebrated historian Geoffrey Blainey takes us on an incredible global journey through a tempestuous hundred years. His eye for detail and evocative style bring to vivid life many of the events that marked the 20th century: two world wars, the rise and fall of communist states, the worst economic slump in the world's history, the decline of European monarchies and empires, the ascent of the first female prime ministers, the resurgence of Asia, and the exploration of outer space. Yet it is not only through such grand markers that we come to know and understand our history. As ever, Blainey brings the past alive by recording the minutiae of daily life - nine - year - old mothers with puny babies, the whiff of chaff and manure, the bustle of crowded cities. It brilliantly evokes the excitement of the times, the triumphs and the tragedies of perhaps the most significant century of all.

A Short History of the 20th Century

Robin Smith

The Birth of Australia

Australia's renowned historian Professor Geoffrey Blainey makes the past come alive in this sweeping history of the world. With an emphasis on the everyday life of different eras, this is a grand adventure story that will fill you with wonder at the richness of human history.

Geoffrey Blainey

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