This morning, the Premier of NSW, the honourable Mike Baird has announced the shortlists for the 2014 NSW Premier’s History Awards. He comments:

“This year’s World War One commemorations are a time to reflect upon our nations involvement in the war and a reminder of the importance of the work of historians in marking and understanding our nation’s past”.

This is so true. Historians research, catalogue and deliver to us the gritty details of our history ready for us to read. They immerse themselves in the records and recounts of events that have shaped our nation. Some of these events may have been forgotten about, but deserve our attention. Without historians, and writers who weave our history through their narrative, the triumphs and tragedies of our past would slip by and stay buried.

Congratulations to all the nominees.

2014 NSW Premier’s History Awards shortlist:

Australian History Prize

• Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War, Joan Beaumont (Allen & Unwin)
• The Aboriginal Story of Burke and Wills: Forgotten Narratives, edited by Ian Clark and
• Fred Cahir (CSIRO Publishing)
• The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka, Clare Wright (Text Publishing)

General History Prize

• Encountering the Pacific in the Age of Enlightenment, John Gascoigne (Cambridge University Press)
• Antipodean America: Australasia and the Constitution of U.S. Literature, Paul Giles (Oxford University Press)
• Lamaze: An International History, Paula Michaels (Oxford University Press)

NSW Community and Regional History Prize

• The Wallpapered Manse: The Rescue of an Endangered House, Peter Freeman (The Watermark Press)
• Coast: A History of the New South Wales Edge, Ian Hoskins (NewSouth)
• Sydney Mechanic School of Arts: A History, Garry Wotherspoon (Sydney Mechanic School of Arts)

Young People’s History Prize

• The Road to Gundagai, Jackie French (HarperCollins Publishers)
• Yoko’s Diary, Edited by Paul Ham, translated by Debbie Edwards (HarperCollins Publishers)
• Australians All, Nadia Wheatley, illustrated by Ken Searle (Allen & Unwin)

Multimedia History Prize

• Public Intimacies: The 1974 Royal Commission on Human Relationships, Michelle Arrow, Catherine Freyne and Timothy Nicastri (ABC Radio National/Hindsight)
• Persons of Interest – Gary Foley (Ep 3), Haydn Keenan (Smart Street Films)
• The Reef (www.the‐reef.com.au), Ian McCalman (Penguin Group Australia/Spring in Alaska

Details courtesy of the NSW State Library Media Release ‘Shortlists announced for the NSW Premier’s History Awards’ 11/8/2014

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The State Library of NSW holds a rich collection of resources on the Great War including diaries, letters, maps, photographs, artworks, posters and newspapers. Explore stories and commemorate the Australian experience of War. For more informations click on the Our/Your War stories image above.