A resident observer offers a direct survey of Australian society around the turn of the twentieth century, combining travel impressions, social criticism, and literary commentary. The work examines social customs, hospitality, and the effects of climate, and critiques political institutions and exclusionary immigration laws while tracing the habits of the press, party politics, and public amusements. It also profiles poets and novelists, discusses theatre and gender roles, contrasts urban centres, and sketches leading politicians to illuminate competing tendencies in a developing nation.