'How do the Chinese in Australia see and write about themselves and their relation to mainstream Australian society? Yuan Fang Shen offers us a fascinating reading of Chinese history in Australia, as revealed through the autobiographical writings of more than twenty Chinese-Australians from 1886 to 1996.' (Publication summary)

Briefly outlining white Australians' attitudes to Chinese settlers in Australia, the authors note the often close relationships between Chinese and Aboriginal people, the effect of the land rights movement in motivating people of mixed race to identify as Aborigines, and the trend to increased recognition of dual and multiple ancestries.