When its first university was founded 150 years ago, Melbourne was a frontier town of only forty thousand people. Stuart Macintyre and Richard Selleck have written a history as lively and shrewd as it is short. They tell of the tensions as well as the achievements. They document the evolution of the campus and evoke the variety of student life. Their sketches of the leading players are vivid and memorable. Students and their families will enjoy this handsomely illustrated and engaging history. Alumni and old hands will delight in its treasury of stories and in the commendable subtlety and stringency of their telling.