What are the qualities at the heart of Australian culture? How did they arise? What distinguishes us from other nations beyond a fondness for calling each other 'mate'? And what do such national quirks reveal about our society, our past and our attitudes towards it?

Looking for Australia is a fascinating collection of essays by author and historian John Hirst. Together they form a multi-faceted portrait of Australia as a distinctive nation, with its own political culture, its own character and style, and its own particular ways of seeing itself.