But the quality is uneven. Alison Broinowski's chapter on the implications for Australian-Japanese relations of racist assumptions that informed the federal impulse contains little that is new while some of its judgements oversimplify to the point of serious distortion. Her claim that after 1919 'militarists were in the ascendant' in Japan is a very misleading summary of that nation's complex political dynamics during the two subsequent decades. Generalisations are not always adequately supported. McKenna claims that those opposed to mentioning God in the Preamble were usually 'people who placed principle above expedience' and that 'a healthy scepticism about any declaration, in a civil document, of religious belief' is 'quintessentially Australian' but substantiates neither contention.
Some chapters fall short of fulfilling their stated promises.
Peter Haynes sets out to show that the 'peripatetic history' of Tom Roberts' depiction of the opening of Federal Parliament and the 'more stable genesis' of Mandy Martin's painting, Red Ochre Cove, 'provide interesting insights into the visualisation of our country's history and ethos'. But while the peregrinations of Roberts' work are described in detail, no such related insights are adduced. Reasoning is sometimes sloppy. It is difficult to see how Griffith's assertion that the Australian constitution 'will be a permanent glory to the British Empire' shows that he preferred the Westminister system of government to that of the U.S., while Abjorensen infers people's appreciation of Reid's work from tributes paid to him in obituaries and at a memorial service. Finally, the incidence of carelessness in some chapters is too intrusive to be passed over.