his concern to improve Australian society and the welfare of its people. Others were linked with his wartime and pre-war occupations. He was a man who was full of ideas and opinions, and who had a vision for Australia. The Book Description and contents Written in October 1918, during the closing days of the war, Charles Bean called In Your Hands, Australians ‘the little Book on reconstruction’. It was first published in November 1918 shortly after its completion. It has been variously described as a ‘monograph’, a ‘manifesto’, a war-driven homily to young Australia and a secular sermon. It bore the character of a personal letter to all Australians, urging the nation to embrace social improvement following the Great War. There is no particular literary quality in the book – nor would its author have claimed any. Out of the tragedy he was determined to see a new beginning for a nation that he believed had come of age and made its reputation in the family of nations. The design on the cover is a pictorial out-line of the book itself. In the fore-ground is a mound, a grave, with a steel helmet and a reversed rifle on it, indicating the work done by the A.I.F. for Australia; in the back-ground, the rising sun, telling of the rising hope of future achievements for the land under this emblem. In the Introduction to In Your Hands, Australians (dated November 1918) Bean explained the purpose of the book: ‘We have done with the Great War. We are facing peace. This small book has been written to help the men of the A.I.F. and the young people of Australia, in the trying period after the war, to fill their spare time with a thought or two of what we can all do for Australia in the long peace which many who will not return have helped to win. One does not need to enlarge upon Australia – that word alone means too much to us now to call for a single sentence of mine to expand it. But what we can do for her may at least be the theme for thousands of debating societies here [on the battlefields of Europe] and in Australia. If these few pages assist young Australians to think how they can help Australia themselves in any capacity, the purpose for which they were penned is more than served.