Sydney's European history covers scarely more than 200 years, however it wasome to a number of Aboriginal clans for 40,000 years before that. There is aomplex story of interaction between the urban and the natural. A uniqueense of place has evolved over time with fragments of the past intertwinedith the bold and the new. Most of the historic photos in this book catchydney scenes of about a century ago, in the decades just before and afterhe Federation of the British colonies to form Australia. Sydney'sevelopment mirrored Australia's growth in confidence and affluence,roducing an impressive display of public architecture and civic spaces.