Crown or Country: The Traditions of Australian Republicanism edited by David Headon, James Warden and Bill Gammage

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Bend to back cover left tail corner.

Crown or Country is about republicanism's historical and cultural presence in Australia. The republican debate - neither new nor even recent - commenced with the arrival of the First Fleet. It has been conducted with greater or lesser vigour ever since.

The essays in this collection explore the meaning of republicanism in Australia as it developed in political movements and as it has been advanced by individuals like Daniel Henry Deniehy, Charles Harpur and John Dunmore Lang; Geoff Dutton, Donald Horne and Paul Keating.

The contribution of these and many more republicans to Australian history and culture is re-assessed in this volume.

The argument about republicanism in Australia in the 1990s is far more than a debate about the place of the Crown. To restrict the discussion to the presence or absence of the Queen is to miss much of the richness of republicanism and to miss an opportunity to reshape Australia.Citizenship, rights, duties, identity and the pursuit of a fair and compassionate society are all part of the important historical legacy of republicanism.

From Mr Boston's Pig to Mr Keating's committee, the essays in Crown or Country are concerned with history, personal political experience and the cultural manifestations of the long-standing experience of Australian republicanism. (back cover)