[Publisher’s Note: Geoffrey Blainey had a different take on manhood than Andy Paine:
“The idea of distance throws new light on the rise of and importance of whaling, wool, gold and the dynamic export industries of the nineteenth century, on the immigration of Chinese in the 1850’s and Italians a few decades later, and on immigration from the British isles throughout Australian history. It illuminates the reasons why Australia was for long such a masculine society, why it became a more egalitarian society than North America, and why it was a relatively peaceful society” — ‘The tyranny of distance’ by Geoffrey Blainey (preface ix).
Who is right, Geoffrey or Andy?]