A Place to Remember: A History of the Shrine of Remembrance

Description

On the 11th of November 1934 over 300,000 people gathered on the slopes of Melbourne's Domain to witness the dedication of the Shrine. It was the largest state war memorial Australia would build and it commemorated the sacrifice of no fewer than 114,000 Victorians who served in the Great War. A Place to Remember charts the Shrine's history from the first fatalities of the Gallipoli landing to the present day. With deft hand and luminous style, Bruce Scates masterfully situates the Shrine in its larger physical, cultural and historical landscape. Archival image and first person vignette mesh with vivid prose to reveal The Shrine then and now; its changing patterns of meaning through the many conflicts in which Australians have fought and died, and the enduring significance of this grand memorial in the heart of Melbourne, for generations to come.

Bruce Scates is the Director of the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University.

'Energetic research applied to an unusually wide range of questions about the making of an institution; scrupulous and imaginative scholarship; due respect and exemplary candour. This book has the pleasures of both familiarity and unfamiliarity. Visually, too, it's a treat with rich and well captioned illustrations woven into the eloquent text. An admirable achievement.' Ken Inglis, Australian National University and author of Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape