Ambitious and wide-ranging, this sweeping history of one of the world’s most recognized landmarks explores every aspect of Sydney Harbor through studies of its natural, human, and cultural history. Revealing why Sydney Harbor has been a defining element for the people who have lived around it since the time of the harbor clans, this volume examines the icon as a means of communication; a barrier; a resource to be exploited; and a place of beauty, spirit, and meaning. By chronicling the story of the waterway from the time of the first aboriginal communities and detailing contemporary debates about the future of the working harbor, this comprehensive account outlines the important interactions between the glittering harbor and the people who inhabited and shaped it.