Bicentennial, an Australian mosaic / and, 1788 diary / by Harry Gordon.

Available from The Manager, Sunshine Diaries, c/o Podlich Enterprises, 450 Stafford Road, Stafford, Qld. 4053.

Includes index.

Bibliography.

History insists that a nation should speak for itself at certain special moments about significant events in its life. Australia's Bicentennial is certainly such a time to reflect on some of the notable events and occasions of our people's progress since 1788. The specially commissioned essays, 'An Australian Mosaic' by Harry Gordon, celebrate the vigour and originality of our nation’s people; reminding us of the peaks we've achieved, but acknowledging, too, those hard years in which a young county must mature and acquire for itself a secure and respected reputation. In seeking to portray our national development in graphic terms, the publisher set a totally new and demanding specification: a photographic montage to encompass a huge collection of those reminders of the past which have helped create our national personality. The colour plates which follow will bring back to every Australian much of the flavor of other years, both recent and remote. When most nations speak of history, two hundred years may seem a comparatively brief time; but, time enough, we suggest, for an energetic and resourceful people to have generated the substance of a lively history in this unusual county." From introduction.