"This is a clear-headed and historical look at civil and military unrest in Australasia from the earliest times of European colonisation to the riots at Cronulla in 2005 whose intensity and aftermath took Australia by surprise. The author examines many insurrections the Rum Rebellion, Vinegar Hill, Eureka that took place in the nineteenth century and relates them to an ongoing, but diminishing, number of not just tilts at authority, but direct challenges to it." (publisher's blurb) 254 pages, including index.