Australia's Empire is the first collaborative evaluation of Australia's imperial experience in more than a generation. Bringing together poltical, cultural, and aboriginal understandings of the past, it argues that the legacies of empire continue to influence the fabric of modern Australian society.

This is the first major collaborative reappraisal of Australia's experience of empire since the end of the British Empire itself. The volume examines the meaning and importance of empire in Australia across a broad spectrum of historical issues-ranging from the disinheritance of the Aborigines to the foundations of a new democratic state. The overriding theme is the distinctive Australian perspective on empire. The country's adherence to imperial ideals and aspirations involved not merely the building of a 'new Britannia' but also the forging of a distinctive new culture and society. It was Australian interests and aspirations which ultimately shaped 'Australia's Empire'. While modern Australians have often played down the significance of their British imperial past, the contributors to this book argue that the legacies of empire continue to influence the temper and texture of Australian society today.

Introduction: What Became of Australia's Empire?
PART I
CONTACT:
THE PROJECTION OF EMPIRE
1. The Saga of Captain Cook
2. Conquest
3. Settling the Land
4. Indigenous Subjects
5. New Visions from Old: Art and the Environment
PART II DYNAMICS: THE INSTRUMENTS OF EMPIRE
6. Empire, State, Nation
7. Migrations: The Career of White British Australia
8. Religion and Society
9. Money: Trade, Investment and Economic Nationalism
10. Security: Defending Australia's Empire
PART III
CULTURES: AN IMAGINED EMPIRE
11. Monarchy: From Reverence to Indifference
12. War and Commemoration: The Responsibility of Empire
13. Gender and Sexuality
14. Popular Culture
15. In History's Page: Identity and Myth
Epilogue: After Empire