In Australian mythology, nationhood was forged in the slaughter of Gallipoli in 1915. Masters introduces a very different proposition. Far from bringing the nation together, the First World War tore the country apart and threatened to destroy the Federation Dream.

The Great Depression wrecked a struggling recovery and just when light appeared on the horizon, the gates of hell reopened with the Second World War.

This is the story of how the parents, grandparents and great grandparents of today’s Australians survived crisis after crisis and laid the groundwork for the nation we know today.