An internationally celebrated historian and highly original thinker, Inga Clendinnen compelled readers to re-examine accepted histories from new angles. Inga Clendinnen was one of Australia's greatest writers and thinkers. This selection covers the full scope of her writing, from Tiger's Eye to Aztecs, from Boyer Lectures to essays on all manner of topics. The rich array is introduced by acclaimed historian James Boyce, who traces Clendinnen's life and evolving thought. Boyce writes that Clendinnen's 'ability to write serious history for a general readership was unrivalled in this country ⿿ Her writings are an enduring testament to the truth that while we might ''live within the narrow moving band of time we call the present ⿿ the secret engine of our present is our past, with its plastic memories, its malleable moralities, its wreathing dreams of desirable futures''.