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Issue Details: First known date: 1973... 1973 From Deserts the Prophets Come : The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788-1972
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In the early 1970s, Geoffrey Serle presented a series of groundbreaking lectures on Australian cultural history. These lectures became the book From Deserts the Prophets Come, first published in 1973. Serle relates in his preface to the original edition, "I was aiming to cut a new path for teaching and research in Australian history, to bring cultural history into the general discourse of Australian historians, and to bridge the gap between general history and the major works in literary, art, musical, and architectural history which have appeared in recent years." Serle's articulation of the particular relations between the arts, politics, economics, and society within Australia, and what he called his "rudimentary attempt at a theory of cultural growth," remain important.' (Source 2013 edition)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Alternative title: The Creative Spirit in Australia : A Cultural History.
    • Richmond, East Melbourne - Richmond area, Melbourne, Victoria,: Heinemann Australia , 1987 .
      image of person or book cover 7230867730229498079.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: xiii, 247 p.p.
      Edition info: Rev. ed.
      Description: illus., ports.
      ISBN: 0855611049

Works about this Work

Timid Minds Hilary McPhee , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 69 no. 4 2010; (p. 56-62) Meanjin Anthology 2012; (p. 350-361)
Institutions of Australian Literature David Carter , Gillian Whitlock , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies : A Survey 1989; (p. 109-135)
Untitled 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 22 August 1987; (p. B4)

— Review of From Deserts the Prophets Come : The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788-1972 Geoffrey Serle , 1973 single work criticism
Our Native Culture? Ross Fitzgerald , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10 October 1987; (p. 46)

— Review of From Deserts the Prophets Come : The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788-1972 Geoffrey Serle , 1973 single work criticism
Lively Map of Australian Culture Stephen Alomes , 1987 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 29 August 1987; (p. 14)

— Review of From Deserts the Prophets Come : The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788-1972 Geoffrey Serle , 1973 single work criticism
Untitled Clement Semmler , 1974 single work review
— Appears in: Hemisphere , October vol. 18 no. 10 1974; (p. 37-41)

— Review of Readings in Commonwealth Literature William Walsh , 1973 anthology criticism ; From Deserts the Prophets Come : The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788-1972 Geoffrey Serle , 1973 single work criticism
A Relaxed, Upright Stance: Serle's Cultural History Harry Payne Heseltine , 1973 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin Quarterly , Winter vol. 32 no. 2 1973; (p. 215-218)

— Review of From Deserts the Prophets Come : The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788-1972 Geoffrey Serle , 1973 single work criticism
Creativity and Ugliness Clement Semmler , 1973 single work review
— Appears in: Hemisphere , October vol. 17 no. 10 1973; (p. 37-38)

— Review of From Deserts the Prophets Come : The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788-1972 Geoffrey Serle , 1973 single work criticism
Peculiarly Australian Leonie Kramer , 1973 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 56 1973; (p. 48-50)

— Review of From Deserts the Prophets Come : The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788-1972 Geoffrey Serle , 1973 single work criticism
Untitled Maurice Dunlevy , 1973 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 28 April 1973; (p. 10)

— Review of From Deserts the Prophets Come : The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788-1972 Geoffrey Serle , 1973 single work criticism
Timid Minds Hilary McPhee , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 69 no. 4 2010; (p. 56-62) Meanjin Anthology 2012; (p. 350-361)
Institutions of Australian Literature David Carter , Gillian Whitlock , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies : A Survey 1989; (p. 109-135)
y separately published work icon Momentous Decade : Society and Thought : Australia, 1838-1848 Norman Bartlett , Canberra : 1976 19373512 1976 single work thesis

'In searching for the origins of the Australian ethos it is tempting to regard convicts and "old hands" as the seedbed of Australian political democracy as well as part of the humus that nourished mateship and egalitarianism. While, as Russel Ward documents in The Australian Legend, many Australian social attitudes data back to convict days, the origin of Australian political democracy followed urban English rather than American or Australian frontier patterns.' (Thesis description)

Last amended 24 Apr 2015 10:57:23
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