Stamp of Australia The Story of Our Post: From Second Fleet to Twenty-First Century

The story of Australia's postal servicesnow two hundred years oldis the story of Australia itself. At first, a small huddle of colonists awaited letters from England, which most of them regarded as "home." Later, as settlers dispersed, letters kept people in touch with each other over vast distances and difficult terrain. Over the years soldiers wrote back reassuringly from battlefields abroad; lovers shared intimacies; and new waves of immigrants urged those they had left behind to follow them in making a home in a strange land.The Stamp of Australiais a vivid account of the adventurers, explorers, aviationers, and pioneers that found ways to traverse this vast continent, and the history of Australia told through the letters they carried with them.

Kelly Burke is the Consumer Affairs reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald and she has written features for Good Weekend.