AustLit

'This beautifully illustrated book pays homage to the multi‐talented, often misunderstood, first superintendent of the Port Phillip District and later lieutenant governor of the colony of Victoria during its tumultuous gold‐rush years. Charles Joseph La Trobe took up duties at Port Phillip in 1839 at the age of thirty‐eight, serving fifteen years before resigning to return to Europe. While his Victorian years provide a natural focus for Australian readers, La Trobe’s earlier and subsequent experiences all contributed to the making of his legacy; the private man moulded the sometimes unappreciated public image.'  (Introduction)

'With a fluent, anecdote‐punctuated style, Meredith Lake traces the history of the Bible in Australian culture from the colonial days, through the “Great Age of the Bible”, into the formation of “nationhood” and the two World Wars, and concluding in contemporary “secular Australia”. There are few surprises in this history; the author thinks the Bible is historically significant, and that it still makes a valuable contribution in contemporary Australian culture.'  (Introduction)

'Michael Walsh has published in three different areas of art history: British (including imperial) cultural production in the first two decades of the twentieth century, especially on the Great War; medieval heritage and conservation in the post‐conflict zone of Famagusta, Cyprus; and twentieth‐century music biography, especially on protest and pacifism. It is surprising that Walsh is the first person to write a scholarly study on Eric Bogle, yet no surprise that he has done so in no ordinary way.'  (Introduction)

'Gareth Evans continues to be one of the more thoughtful figures in Australian public life, entering the Senate in the late 1970s and serving with distinction in both the Hawke and Keating governments, as, at various times, Attorney‐General, Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for Transport and Communications, and Foreign Minister. He then went on to grace the international stage as head of the Brussels‐based International Crisis Group before becoming Chancellor of the Australian National University in 2010.' (Introduction)

'The Centre, variously understood as the Dead Heart, the Red Heart and the Never Never, has long been significant in the Australian cultural imaginary. Explorers, anthropologists, journalists and travellers have played an important role in shaping understandings of the Centre but there has been little scholarly analysis that has sought to bring together and to critique this literature. Glenn Morrison’s Writing Home: Walking, Literature and Belonging in Australia’s Red Centre, seeks to address this gap.'  (Introduction)