Australian Lives : An Intimate History

Description

What is life like, in Australia? How has it been experienced by those who have lived it? The Australians. Australian Lives: An Intimate History illuminates Australian life across the 20th and into the 21st century: how have we been shaped by the forces and expectations of contemporary history and how, in turn, have we made our lives and created Australian society? From oral history interviews with Australians born between 1920 and 1989, fifty narrators reflect on their diverse experience as children and teenagers, in midlife and in old age, about faith, migration and activism. Published as both paperback and e-book, in Australian Lives you can read and listen to the comedy, heartache and drama of ordinary Australians' extraordinary lives. As our interviewee Kim Bear (born 1959) explains, 'Stories are a great way to inform people about what it is to be human. Even if you say one thing that resonates with them, there's that connection made.'

Author description

Anisa Puri is a professional historian and a PhD candidate in the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies at Monash University. Her work explores oral history and memory, Australian social and cultural history, and the intersection between oral history and digital technology. She is also the President of Oral History NSW. Alistair Thomson is Professor of History at Monash University. His books include: Ten Pound Poms (2005, with Jim Hammerton), Moving Stories: an intimate history of four women across two countries (2011), Oral History and Photography (2011, with Alexander Freund), Anzac Memories (2013), and The Oral History Reader (2016 with Rob Perks).