By ANNA USHER

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott will visit Mosman next month to launch his new book, Australia: A History – From Convict Colony to Great Democracy, at his first official author event.

Hosted by local bookseller Three Sparrows, the evening will take place at Mosman Rowers Club on Tuesday 14 October from 6:30pm–8:30pm. Tickets are $50 and include a welcome drink, canapés, and book signings on the night.

Published by HarperCollins and featuring a foreword by Geoffrey Blainey, Australia: A History is described as a “fresh, powerful, highly readable single-volume history of Australia that deserves a wide audience,” according to The Australian’s Editor-at-Large Paul Kelly.

Abbott says the book was born from his long-held desire to tell the national story through a more “balanced and positive lens.”

He hopes that readers of the book, which highlights the contribution that farmers, miners, soldiers, carers and democratic pioneers have made to Australia, will find there is much to value, respect and admire in our past and will come away with “a deeper patriotism”.

“While there are blemishes on our past, as there are in all countries’ pasts, I think there’s so much more to be proud of,” he told The Australian.

“So, utilising the megaphone available to a former PM, I thought why not try to tell our story in a positive, upbeat, encouraging way.”

The book spans from Australia’s Indigenous origins to its modern identity as a multicultural democracy, shaped by British settlement, immigrant character and political reform.

“This Indigenous heritage, British foundation and immigrant character have shaped the land of the ‘fair go’ — especially for those willing to ‘have a go’,” Abbott writes.

He argues that within a century of European settlement, Australia achieved the world’s highest living standards and pioneered democratic reforms like the secret ballot, payment of MPs and women’s suffrage.

“If to be an Australian is still to have won the lottery of life, the history that’s produced us is surely something to savour.”

Historian Andrew Roberts called the book “scholarly, scrupulously fair-minded and very engagingly written… big narrative history at its best.”

Mr Abbott, who also served as a minister in the Howard government and was the Liberal Member for Warringah (1994-2019), is a former journalist and author of three previous books, including Battlelines (2009).