{"product_id":"9781921870170","title":"The Australians: Insiders and Outsiders on the National Character since 1770","description":"\u003ci\u003eUS General Douglas MacArthur, on the Australians fighting on the Kokoda Track, 1942: “Operations reports show that progress on the trail is NOT repeat NOT satisfactory.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To which Major-General A.S. Allen drafted this reply: “If you think you can do any better come up and bloody try.”\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Is there an Australian national character? What are its distinguishing features? Over the years, how have insiders and outsiders summed up this country and its people, and how have Australians responded to outside criticism? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Australians\u003c\/i\u003e, John Hirst gathers together the key assessments of the national character, on topics as diverse as sport, war, mateship, humour, put-downs, suburbia and going native. There is celebration and criticism. There is humour and insight. There is the difference between what Australians think of themselves and what they are really like. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Contributors include Winston Churchill, Ned Kelly, Tim Flannery, Henry Lawson, Peter Cosgrove, Germaine Greer, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Captain James Cook, David Malouf, Mark Twain, H.G. Wells, Patrick White, Oscar Wilde and Tim Winton. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ‘This is the most democratic place I have ever been in. And the more I see of democracy, the more I dislike it.’ —D.H. Lawrence \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e John Hirst was a member of the History Department at La Trobe University from 1968 to 2007. He has written many books on Australian history, including \u003ci\u003eConvict Society and Its Enemies, The Strange Birth of Colonial Democracy, The Sentimental Nation, Sense and Nonsense in Australian History\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Shortest History of Europe.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Schwartz Publishing Pty. Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137594376432,"sku":"9781921870170","price":14.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781921870170_p0.jpg?v=1763632838","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781921870170","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}