Serle (1922-1998) labeled his book, in its first edition in 1973, as elitist--about literature, art, music, theatre, and architecture. With an introduction by former Serle student, John Rikard, this republication continues to cleave to the authors goal of bringing cultural history into the general discourse of Australian historians with the aim of bridging the gap between general history and the major works in literary, art, musical and architectural history. He also considered his book a rudimentary attempt at a theory of cultural growth. Ten chapters are: foundations pre-1850; transplantation; later colonial c.1850-1885; the growth of culture in colonies; national inspiration c.1885-; delayed development c.1900-1930; literature and the national problem; a coming-of-age c.1935-1950?; relative abundance c.1950-1965; contemporary conclusion. Distributed in the US by ISBS Annotation 2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
