Australian history packs a lot of punch into a short recorded time span. You want the world’s oldest continuous indigenous culture? It’s right here. A nation that starts as a convict dumping ground and morphs quickly into one of the most stable, egalitarian and prosperous democracies in the world? Also here. Wars? Mining booms? Natural catastrophes? Federation? Economic booms and busts? Racial exclusion? Racial inclusion? Australia's got all of them too.
