Why are we so quick to belittle our achievements, so embarrassed by our religious spirit, so resilient to hardship, so wryly funny in the face of danger, so laid back, so ... Australian?! John Thornhill looks at all these attitudes, together with the resources and assumptions behind our nation-building process. When Manning Clark received the first draft of this very original book, he wrote to the author in his emphatic style, "I think you should not tinker with it, as it is your voice, and the tinkerers can only mute or distort it". John Thornhill took that advice and has produced a personal exploration of the Australian spirit, an incredibly rich blend of the diverse contributions to our national voice: from our writers, poets, novelists, historians, theologians, critics and admirers.