Gold: Forgotten Histories and Lost Objects of Australia

Description

Throughout history, gold has been the stuff of legends, fortunes, conflict and change. The discovery of gold in Australia 150 years ago precipitated enormous developments in the newly settled land. Immigrants flooded in from Asia and Europe, and the population and economy boomed in spontaneous cities. The effects on both the environment and indigenous Aboriginal peoples have been profound and lasting. In the most unexpected ways, gold has shaped modern Australia. In this book, a team of Australia's most prominent historians and curators have collaborated to produce a cultural history of gold and its impact on the development of Australian society. Like a handful of tailings, Gold brings together a collection of stories that have been left out of standard Australian histories. In between runs a critical analysis of the relationship between gold and social change, race relations, gender, the environment, entertainment and industry.

Review of the hardback: 'Gold is lavishly illustrated and beautifully produced, and will prove a most useful adornment to most academic bookshelves ... it embroiders the mainstream story with a wealth of stimulating and useful contextual material, and this establishes it as a valuable teaching tool, and a most readable highly recommended text.' The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History Review of the hardback: 'The volume is handsomely illustrated ... often evocative ... analysis is enriched by contributions from archaeologists and art historians, and by micro studies of visual sources ... collection thus represents in microcosm the preoccupations of many historians in Australia today ...' The Round Table