Australian English

[pynkbyrd]

Can anyone suggest a book about the history of how the Australian accent developed, that's not too linguistically technical? Is there such a thing?

I heard an Aussie friend say "thirdeen" today for "thirteen" and it got me wondering. I can see how certain American regional accents developed from the English that was spoken when they first settled here, but now I'm curious about Aussie English.

Thanks in advance.