Author(s): Richard Evans

AUSTRALIANA

Australian history is full of disasters and colossal debacles. Some are natural but many more are man-made, results of individual or collective stupidity, poor choices, short-sightedness or outright greed. In "Disasters that Changed Australia", historian Richard Evans nominates the disasters that have been instrumental in creating the Australia we know today. From natural phenomenon such as Cyclone Tracy, the great drought and the Ash Wednesday and Black Friday fires, to key moments in our military history such as the battle at Flanders in 1917 and the fall of Singapore, to the drug wars and the Snowy Mountains scheme, "Disasters that Changed Australia" is an essential guide to understanding the people, the ideas and the events that defined the course of Australia's history. It is also a call for Australia to re-examine its past, look beneath the familiar comforting stories, and rethink how Australians have responded to disaster.