The National Library of Australia's Oral History and Folklore collection is the largest in the country, containing more than 58,000 recorded hours of interviews. Captured in the collection are memories from the mid-nineteenth century to today deep time to deep space and everything in between. Interviewees describe major moments of social change, cultural creativity, political struggle and everyday experience that will both enhance and challenge your understanding of Australian history.

The Memory Tapes brings together hundreds of interview excerpts, organised into chapters on broad themes, from domestic life to politics. The excerpts capture lived experiences in all their complexities, emotion and contradictions. Readers will get a sense of the textures of memory tone, hesitation, reflection learning about the past from the people who lived it. Through the voices of Elders, prime ministers, migrants, scientists, athletes, centenarians, artists and more, this is our national memory.

This book, an empathy-building doorway to discovery, is essential for classrooms, historians, writers and anyone who wants to understand more about this nation.