A description of the events leading to the federation of the Australian states in 1901 with biographies of major participants, including Sir Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin, Sir Samuel Griffith, Sir Henry Parkes and Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson.

John Hirst, one of Australia's pre-eminent historians, provides a compelling history of the long, sometimes difficult, and ultimately 'sentimental' process of Australian Federation. His account appears on the eve of the Centenary of Federation.

Federation was the time when Australia changed from being six separate colonies to a united Commonwealth. On 1 January 1901 the entire country celebrated the new beginning. This is the story of the Australia that boasted one of the highest living standards in the world. Racism infected many things the new Commonwealth did; however, on the positive side, women already had the vote in South Australia, a right that would soon extend to all. From politics to war, through the way the new nation lived and entertained itself, how it worked, where it lived, how it travelled and where it shopped, this is the story of Australia at the Time of Federation.