Melbourne: a city of stories grew out of Melbourne Museum’s permanent exhibition, The Melbourne Story. That makes it a selective history: one based on objects - things that have survived. Melbourne: a city of stories reflects on both the place and its people, telling not the big story but the small ones as well.

This book, like the exhibition on which it is based, draws the reader into a sense of exploring the city’s layers through time. Its emphasis is less on the proud public record than on objects and people with stories to tell and a place in Melbourne’s history.

Each chapter takes the reader on a chronological journey through the history of Melbourne, while the ‘break-out’ stories within each chapter beguile the reader into discovering the Melbourne of objects, and the stories they have to tell. A beautifully restored carriage from the Big Dipper reminds us that Luna Park has been a place of thrills for over 80 years while a Cobb and Co Coach, once owned by a Geelong schoolboy, tells us of the hard journey to the goldfields. The Yarra canoe is a poignant reminder of the traditional land owners.

Including a foreword written by historian Robyn Annear, Melbourne: a city of stories is not only a great read but a beautifully produced book.

Editor: Deborah Tout-Smith

Contributing authors: Rebecca Carland, Matthew Churchward, David Crotty, Liza Dale-Hallett, David Demant, Richard Gillespie, Fiona Kinsey, Moya McFadzean, Michael Reason, Adrian Regan, Sarah Rood, Antoinette Smith, Charlotte Smith, Deborah Tout-Smith, Nurin Veis, Elizabeth Willis