Australia's Age of Iron started in the 1840s when the first attempts were made to reduce Australia's dependence on Britain for imported iron. Australian iron ore was abundant and of good quality, but Australia still had difficulties in competing with cheaper imports. Ian Jack and Aedeen Cremin analyze Australia's efforts to smelt iron efficiently and examine in detail the physical remains of those pioneering ventures. Based on a decade of archival research and field work, the study brings together little-known source material and places it in broad historical context.