Ten noted anthropologists examine the evolution of Aboriginal power from pre-white contact to the 1980s.  The first five chapters deal with power relations and ideologies in traditional and tradition-oriented Aboriginal societies and power in relation to myth, land rights, leadership and socialisation. The remaining chapters focus on Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders are are more integrated into Australian society, mainly urban dwellers; the political middlemen, internal colonialism, the formation  of a pan-Aborignal identity and the question of Aboriginal power in an urban setting in general.  As a whole, the book offers a wide-ranging examination of the power possessed by Aborigines and how Aborigines perceive power among themselves and in relation to others. The contributors are: Michael. C. Howard; E. Kolig; D.H. Turner; K. Maddock; F.R. Myers; R. Tonkinson; J. Beckett; J.C. Pierson; and D.J. Jones; J. Hill-Burnett.