The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation. Edited by Helen Irving. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp. xxii, 474. $64.95.

Abstract

In 1901 six of the seven British colonies in Australasia federated to form the Common-wealth of Australia. The collaborative volume edited by Irving is one of a number of recent scholarly publications marking the centennial of that event. It chronicles a federation movement that began in the middle of the nineteenth century, with different contributors telling the story from the perspective of each colony. Emphasis is given to the role of colonial leaders in the drawn-out saga, for this book is designed for readers interested in the political and constitutional dimensions of the process. (It also contains over 100 pages of “short entries,” in the style of a compendium, and reproduces associated documents such as the 1901 constitution.) Although economic issues were important, in Irving's book they are only indirectly recognized.