This imaginative and resonant book looks at the constitution as a
cultural artifact. Irving looks beyond the well-known events, places and
figures to locate federation and the constitution in the context of
broader social, political and cultural changes. Despite its paradoxical
construction, there is something uniquely Australian about the
constitution, and it marked a utopian moment as the old century gave way
to the new. Irving analyzes the background and outcomes of the recent
Constitutional Convention and considers its significance for Australia's
future. A new chapter covers the development of the constitution in the
twentieth century.