Book review by Glen Stewart FOOLs member
It is hard to approach a national history written by a former prime minister without some scepticism. Political leaders are rarely neutral witnesses to the countries they have governed, and Tony Abbott remains one of Australia’s more polarising public figures. I opened Australia: A History expecting a partisan defence of conservative politics as much as a work of history. The surprise is that, while Abbott’s worldview is unmistakably present, the book is far more substantial, readable, and fair-minded than that assumption allows.
Abbott sets out to tell the story of how an ancient continent became a modern liberal democracy. It is an ambitious sweep: Indigenous Australia, British settlement, convict society, colonial development, Federation, war, immigration, economic reform, and the present political moment all pass through the frame. This is not detached academic history, nor does it pretend to be. It is a broad national narrative written by someone who believes deeply in the Australian achievement and wants readers to see that achievement in historical perspective.
The book is strongest when it traces the growth of Australia’s democratic institutions. Abbott writes clearly about the reforms and political experiments that shaped the country, from responsible government to the secret ballot, the payment of parliamentarians, and the expansion of voting rights. These sections explain why Australian democracy matured early and why its institutions have proved unusually durable. They also capture the human drama of politics: ambition, rivalry, compromise, failure, and the long consequences of decisions made under pressure.
Much of the book’s energy comes from Abbott’s interest in character. Prime ministers are not treated merely as names in a chronology, but as figures shaped by temperament, conviction, circumstance, and luck. Some emerge with reputations strengthened, others diminished, but Abbott generally resists reducing them to party labels. That balance is one of the book’s more unexpected strengths.
For readers interested in Australian politics, this is an absorbing and worthwhile book. For those less familiar with the subject, it offers a clear overview of how the nation’s political culture developed. It will not satisfy every historian, nor convince every critic of Abbott’s politics, but it deserves to be read on its own terms: as an energetic, patriotic, and often surprisingly balanced account of Australia’s democratic story.
