US General Douglas MacArthur, on the Australians fighting on the Kokoda Track, 1942: "Operations reports show that progress on the trail is NOT repeat NOT satisfactory."To which Major-General A.S. Allen drafted this reply: "If you think you can do any better come up and bloody try."Is there an Australian national character? What are its distinguishing features? Over the years, how have insiders and outsiders summed up this country and its people, and how have Australians responded to outside criticism?In The Australians, John Hirst gathers together the key assessments of the national character