The best one volume history of Australia I have found- it is a summary of the five volume work by Manning Clark, perhaps the most famous Australian historian. Some (Bill Bryson) have criticized his writing syle as too arch or rhetorical, but I did not find Clark's style getting in the way of the narrative. It is more a social history than an economic or military one, but does pay some attention to the pre-European (aboriginal) era. Read it if you can find it...
Mark A
Mark A