Black Swan Summer may primarily be about Western Australia's first season in the Sheffield Shield, but takes into account the events and people that made Australia what it was in the summer of 1947/48, giving it a richness and more context that evade other cricket books, particularly one as obscure as a domestic cricket season.

The story of Western Australia's first season competing in the Sheffield Shield, and its first Sheffield Shield, is well covered, with help from the surviving cricketers of that summer, including Basil Rigg, the sole survivor of Western Australia's Shield winning side, who provide some personal stories to what otherwise could have been a dry account of the cricket. However, Black Swan Summer also covers India's tour of Australia and the social and political history of the time, particularly focussing on race and the White Australia Policy. ( )