ABBEY'S CHOICE JANUARY 2015 ----- A 'mate' is a mate, right? Wrong, argues Nick Dyrenfurth in this provocative new look at one of Australia's most talked-about beliefs.
In the first book-length exploration of our secular creed, one of Australia's leading young historians and public commentators turns mateship's history upside down. Did you know that the first Australians to call each other 'mate' were business partners? Or that many others thought that mateship would be the basis for creating an entirely new society - namely a socialist one? For some, the term 'mate' is 'the nicest word in the English language'; for others, it represents the very worst features in our nation's culture: conformity, bullying, corruption, racism, and misogyny. So what does mateship really mean?
Covering more than 200 years of white-settler history, Mateship demonstrates the richness and paradoxes of the Antipodean version of fraternity, and how everyone - from the early convicts to our most recent prime ministers, on both sides of politics - have valued it.
By:
Nick Dyrenfurth Imprint: Scribe Publications Country of Publication: Australia Dimensions:
Height: 209mm,
Width: 137mm,
Spine: 19mm
Weight: 272g ISBN:9781925106350 ISBN 10: 1925106357 Publication Date:02 January 2015 Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format:Paperback Publisher's Status: Active
Reviews for Mateship: A Very Australian History
'This is essential reading for anyone interested in one of Australia's key national myths.' - Books+Publishing
