'If only', 'what if' and 'why didn't we' are phrases that often come to mind when we look back to the past. This exciting and stimulating book looks backat turning points and crucial moments in Australian history. Rather than arguing that there have been forks on a pre-determined road, the book challenges us to think about other paths or better paths that might have led to different outcomes. It shows that a decisive event often becomes so only in retrospect and that what seemed like a major turning point at the time often had no real impact at all.