Australia is on the brink of momentous change, but only if its citizens and politicians can come to new terms with the past. In this inspiring essay, Mark McKenna considers the role of history in making and unmaking the nation. From Captain Cook to the frontier wars, from Australia Day to the Uluru Statement, we are seeing passionate debates and fresh recognitions. McKenna argues that it is time to move beyond the history wars, and that truth-telling about the past will be liberating and healing. This is a superb account of a nation moment of truth. "The time for pitting white against black, shame against pride, and one people history against another's, has had its day. After nearly fifty years of deeply divisive debates over the country's foundation and its legacy for Indigenous Australians, Australia stands at a crossroads we either make the commonwealth stronger and more complete through an honest reckoning with the past, or we unmake the nation by clinging to triumphant narratives in which the violence inherent in the nation foundation is trivialised." Mark McKenna, Moment of Truth.

Includes correspondence re 'Without America', pages 87-137: Ely Ratner, Michael Green & Evan S. Medeiros, Patrick Lawrence, David Shambaugh, John Fitzgerald, Merriden Varrall, Andrew Shearer, Kim Beazley, Hugh White.

Cover title.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 77-86)