Revealing the dramatic story of the collision of two worlds, this historical study sheds light on the creation of contemporary Australia. Told from the perspective of the country's first people, this reference vividly brings to life the events that unfolded when the world's oldest living culture was overrun by its greatest empire. Seven of Australia's leading historians outline the true stories of individuals caught in an epic drama of friendship, revenge, loss, and victory in the continent's most transformative period. Beginning in 1788 in Warrane—now known as Sydney—with the friendship between an Englishman, Governor Phillip, and the kidnapped warrior Bennelong, this record ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo's legal challenge to the foundation of Australia.