History's Children

What is it about Australian history? Students dismiss the subject for being boring while politicians and concerned parents fret over their lack of historical knowledge. The classroom has become the battleground of the 'history wars', yet no-one ever asks the children what they think about Australian history and what they like--or don't about learning it. Through interviews with around 250 Australian students from a wide variety of schools, Anna Clark asks how teachers and students teach and learn Australian history. This book is a lively and often surprising read that throws all kinds of challenges to students, teachers and indeed, politicians.

Anna Clark is an Australian Postdoctoral Fellow in history education at Monash University. She is the aurhor of Teaching the Nation (Melbourne University Press 2006); Convicted! (Hardie Grant Egmont 2005) which won the 2006 Children's Book Council of Australia Notable Book award; and The History Wars (Winner of the NSW Premier's Prize for Australian History and the Queensland Premier's Prize for Best literary or Media Work Advancing Public Debate)with Stuart Macintyre (Melbourne University Press 2003). She is Manning Clark's granddaughter.