This book explores imperial ideology through the narrative themes of popular texts.

Robert Dixon was the Foundation Director of the Pastoral Research Office of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference. He is a Life Member of the Association of Practical Theology in Oceania and an Honorary Research Fellow at Catholic Theological College in the University of Divinity.

Introduction; 1. The romance of property: Rolf Boldrewood and Walter Scott; 2. Outlaws and lawmakers: Boldrewood, Praed and the ethics of adventure; 3. Israel in Egypt: the significance of Australian captivity narratives; 4. Imperial romance: King Solomon's Mines and Australian romance; 5. The new woman and the coming man: gender and genre in the 'lost-race' romance; 6. The other world: Rosa Praed's occult novels; 7. The boundaries of civility: Australia, Asia and the Pacific; 8. Imagined invasions: The Lone Hand and narratives of Asiatic invasion; 9. The colonial city: crime fiction and empire; 10. Beyond adventure: Louis Becke; Conclusion.