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When was the Melbourne Cup first run?
When did Australian women get the vote?
When did Vegemite and Violet Crumble bars first appear?
When did Nellie Melba give her last Australian concert?
When did any noteworthy event happen in Australia?
What Happened When has all the answers.

If you want to know what was going on in the year you or your parents were born, you can browse.  In 1932, for example, you will find that the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened, Phar Lap died, the ABC was established, Ion Idriess wrote Flynn of the Inland, Walter Lindrum made a world-record billiards break of 4,137, the basic wage was  £3 3s 11d, and over 30 per cent of the workforce was unemployed.

The year-by-year arrangement of the text makes reference easy and the 130-page index is a valuable source in itself, providing both answers to specific questions (What was Ben Chifley's full name? When was On the Beach written and filmed?) and potted histories of events, people and instituitions.

What Happened When will settle arguments, refresh memories, furnish some surprises and answer a lot of questions.  It is an invaluable reference for librarians, archivists, archivists, students, historians, pub arguers, puzzle solvers and anyone interested in Australia's history.

Anthony Barker worked for over 30 years as a book editor.  He has also written concert and book reviews, and the books Dear Robertson:  Letters to an Australian Publisher, An Illustrated Anthology of Australian Epic Journeys and Beatrice Davis:  One of the First and One of the Finest, as well as contributing entries to the Australian Dictionary of Biography.