This impressive new study by Australia's most distinguished jazz historian revises the place of modern music in Australian society and places jazz at the centre of the twentieth century cultural shift. Bruce Johnson shows how African-American popular music was the primary musical vehicle for Australian modernity and the advancement of women; how the culture was shaped by such innovations as the microphone, recordings and the film industry. His hidden history also reveals the extraordinary impact achieved internationally by Australian jazz musicians since the earliest days. Dispersed among the chapters are interludes from Johnson's life as a 'common soldier in the trenches' of jazz -- engaging and timely reminders to the reader of the jazz community and camaraderie that shares a common language around the world.