The Australian Legend
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
A landmark work of Australian cultural history, The Australian Legend argues that the defining national character of Australia was forged not in its cities, but among the itinerant bush workers, drovers, and shearers of the nineteenth-century outback. Russel Ward traces the origins of a distinctly Australian ethos — one built on mateship, egalitarianism, and a sardonic irreverence toward authority — drawing on folk songs, literature, and historical records to build a compelling and richly documented case. Written with scholarly rigor yet an accessible and engaging prose style, the work illustrates how this bush-born identity was romanticized and ultimately absorbed into the broader national consciousness. Ward challenges readers to reconsider the mythologies a society constructs about itself, and why those myths, however idealized, carry genuine historical weight. First published in 1958, The Australian Legend remains an essential and provocative text for anyone seeking to understand the cultural foundations of modern Australia.
Author: Russel Ward
Format: Paperback
Published: 1983, Oxford
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
A landmark work of Australian cultural history, The Australian Legend argues that the defining national character of Australia was forged not in its cities, but among the itinerant bush workers, drovers, and shearers of the nineteenth-century outback. Russel Ward traces the origins of a distinctly Australian ethos — one built on mateship, egalitarianism, and a sardonic irreverence toward authority — drawing on folk songs, literature, and historical records to build a compelling and richly documented case. Written with scholarly rigor yet an accessible and engaging prose style, the work illustrates how this bush-born identity was romanticized and ultimately absorbed into the broader national consciousness. Ward challenges readers to reconsider the mythologies a society constructs about itself, and why those myths, however idealized, carry genuine historical weight. First published in 1958, The Australian Legend remains an essential and provocative text for anyone seeking to understand the cultural foundations of modern Australia.