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The Black War: Fear, Sex and Resistance in Tasmania
Between 1825 and 1831, close to 200 Britons and 1,000 Aborigines died violently in Tasmania’s Black War. It was by far the most intense frontier conflict in Australia’s history, yet many Australians know little about it. The Black War takes a unique approach to this historic event, looking chiefly at the experiences and attitudes of those who took part in the conflict. By contrasting the perspectives of colonists and Aborigines, Nicholas Clements takes a deeply human look at the events that led to the shocking violence and tragedy of the war, detailing raw personal accounts that shed light on the tribes, families, and individuals involved as they struggled to survive in their turbulent world. The Black War presents a compelling and challenging view of Australia’s early contact history, the legacy of which reverberates strongly to the present day.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 13, 2019
The Black War has been an eye-opening experience into Tasmania’s history from both sides.
The conflict between the Tasmanian Aboriginal people and the European invaders was more severe than mainland Australia. The war ran for about 7 years, from 1824-1831. The loss of Tasmanian Aboriginal life was astronomical during the first 30 years of colonisation. It was estimated that around 2000 Tasmanian's lived in the Eastern frontier before the first permanent settlement of Europeans in 1803. “By the time the war began in 1824, this population had probably halved, and by 1832, it was practically zero”. The loss of life was extreme on both sides of the war.
I believe Clements did an exceptional job of sharing both sides while remaining impartial. I really enjoyed reading about the customs, rituals, creation myths, social hierarchy, territory and movement of the Tasmanian tribes prior to the conflict of European invasion. Child abduction, slavery, physical abuse, torture, murder and paedophilia was common during the Black War and Clements does not shy away from discussing these topics. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Tasmanian history. It’s a beautiful island with a horrific past, our history should be more well-known.
The conflict between the Tasmanian Aboriginal people and the European invaders was more severe than mainland Australia. The war ran for about 7 years, from 1824-1831. The loss of Tasmanian Aboriginal life was astronomical during the first 30 years of colonisation. It was estimated that around 2000 Tasmanian's lived in the Eastern frontier before the first permanent settlement of Europeans in 1803. “By the time the war began in 1824, this population had probably halved, and by 1832, it was practically zero”. The loss of life was extreme on both sides of the war.
“Most were trying to survive the nightmare in which they found themselves … Judgement contributes nothing to our understanding. The war was at once the effect and cause of untold suffering, fear and malice. An extraordinary event that drove people to the unthinkable.”
I believe Clements did an exceptional job of sharing both sides while remaining impartial. I really enjoyed reading about the customs, rituals, creation myths, social hierarchy, territory and movement of the Tasmanian tribes prior to the conflict of European invasion. Child abduction, slavery, physical abuse, torture, murder and paedophilia was common during the Black War and Clements does not shy away from discussing these topics. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Tasmanian history. It’s a beautiful island with a horrific past, our history should be more well-known.
March 26, 2023
The Black War is a rigorous, even-handed work that powerfully brings to light a history of which I was largely ignorant. Clements' account of armed conflict between white settlers and Aborigines in Tasmania (1824–31) fully justifies the claim that this was a war — always verging on a war of complete extermination on the side of the whites, and rapidly becoming an increasingly desperate war of survival for Tasmania's indigenous people.
Clements notes that this war was extremely violent and deadly. Death rates for the Europeans – at 15 per 10,000 colonists per year averaged over the eight years of the war - were higher than World War II (six out of every 10,000 Australians). The Aboriginal death rate was “astronomical” – with around 600 of the 1,000 Eastern Aborigines killed, a staggering annual death rate of 1,364 per 10,000 people.
Clements is thoughtful and even-handed in his assessment of motives and action of both whites and blacks, alternating black and white perspectives on each phase of the war. He does not shy away from describing the atrocities wrought by the Europeans, and notes that the opinion that all Tasmania's indigenous population would have to be removed or destroyed to secure peace rapidly became the majority opinion in the colony, although he is hesitant about applying the label ‘genocide’ to the conflict.
He highlights the effectiveness of the Tasmanians' guerilla tactics in the field and their ability to evade pursuit in Tasmania's rugged landscape — all of which gave them a fearsome reputation in the early colony. Through diaries, journal reports, and newspapers he powerfully captures the fear, and increasing anger and fury, that gripped the colony as they faced an unknown enemy in a wild and difficult environment. While the written records for Indigenous perspectives are, of course, much more limited, he is masterful in selection of interviews and an empathetic reading of known incidents – for example the surrender of bands made up warriors from depleted and merged tribes, absent women, children or the elderly. We really see and feel the devastating impact of the war, which tore apart families, and the kinship and ceremonial bonds of tribe, inflicting the most horrific physical and psychological torment on the First Tasmanians.
From a conflict that, in its early stages, was often limited confrontation and targeted retribution for significant aggressions over women, or access to land and resources, it quickly became a total war, particularly for the Aborigines. Even for the colonists, though, the conflict sparked the largest military mobilisation in Australia's colonial history, the (ultimately misconceived and unsuccessful) Black Line.
As the subtitle (Fear, Sex and Resistance in Tasmania) suggests, physical and sexual violence against women was a significant feature of the conflict. There were cases where whites and blacks cohabited voluntarily or in which sexual favours were traded. However, more common were the rapes, abductions, imprisonments and torture that characterised particularly the actions of colonial sealers along Tasmania's northern coasts.
This is not an easy read and contains many harrowing passages, but it is an extremely important contribution to our understanding of this part of Australia's history.
Clements notes that this war was extremely violent and deadly. Death rates for the Europeans – at 15 per 10,000 colonists per year averaged over the eight years of the war - were higher than World War II (six out of every 10,000 Australians). The Aboriginal death rate was “astronomical” – with around 600 of the 1,000 Eastern Aborigines killed, a staggering annual death rate of 1,364 per 10,000 people.
Clements is thoughtful and even-handed in his assessment of motives and action of both whites and blacks, alternating black and white perspectives on each phase of the war. He does not shy away from describing the atrocities wrought by the Europeans, and notes that the opinion that all Tasmania's indigenous population would have to be removed or destroyed to secure peace rapidly became the majority opinion in the colony, although he is hesitant about applying the label ‘genocide’ to the conflict.
He highlights the effectiveness of the Tasmanians' guerilla tactics in the field and their ability to evade pursuit in Tasmania's rugged landscape — all of which gave them a fearsome reputation in the early colony. Through diaries, journal reports, and newspapers he powerfully captures the fear, and increasing anger and fury, that gripped the colony as they faced an unknown enemy in a wild and difficult environment. While the written records for Indigenous perspectives are, of course, much more limited, he is masterful in selection of interviews and an empathetic reading of known incidents – for example the surrender of bands made up warriors from depleted and merged tribes, absent women, children or the elderly. We really see and feel the devastating impact of the war, which tore apart families, and the kinship and ceremonial bonds of tribe, inflicting the most horrific physical and psychological torment on the First Tasmanians.
From a conflict that, in its early stages, was often limited confrontation and targeted retribution for significant aggressions over women, or access to land and resources, it quickly became a total war, particularly for the Aborigines. Even for the colonists, though, the conflict sparked the largest military mobilisation in Australia's colonial history, the (ultimately misconceived and unsuccessful) Black Line.
As the subtitle (Fear, Sex and Resistance in Tasmania) suggests, physical and sexual violence against women was a significant feature of the conflict. There were cases where whites and blacks cohabited voluntarily or in which sexual favours were traded. However, more common were the rapes, abductions, imprisonments and torture that characterised particularly the actions of colonial sealers along Tasmania's northern coasts.
This is not an easy read and contains many harrowing passages, but it is an extremely important contribution to our understanding of this part of Australia's history.
December 17, 2016
The Black War is the name given to the conflict between the indigenous population of Tasmania and their conflict with the European settlers. It ran from around 1824 to 1831 and represents both the largest military operation on Australian soil and a brutal guerrilla conflict. It also featured fear, lust, paranoia and despair on both sides.
The most striking feature of this book is that every chapter is equally divided between telling the story of Whites and Blacks. This clever device allows Clements’ to explore, explain and ultimately sympathise with both sides.
Lest anyone be confused, or willing to believe indulgent lies, the moral scales are heavily weighted in one direction. The Tasmanian aborigines lived for 33’000 years on this remote island, yet survived barely 30 more after white colonialists arrived. They faced not only the destruction of their lives, but also their cultures, their way of life. The final years must have been as miserable as any people have lived, in the face of a relentless and ever strengthening opponent.
Worse, the lawless men operating off the Northwest coast hunting seals effectively established a slave society. They —like others across the island—kidnapped aboriginal women for sex. These women were then forced into bondage to serve, and killed when no longer useful. Hundreds of women suffered in this fashion over many years. Clements’ chapter on this vile period is as grim and sorrowful an incident in Australian history as I have ever encountered.
Yet a true picture of this conflict requires an understanding that the indigenous population must not be viewed through crude stereotypes of noble savages with a nature-infused purity. There were misogynistic and brutal elements of the indigenous culture. The Black War was a real war and the white population —many of whom were forced to be there as convicts or as very poor settlers— lived for many years in real terror.
The aborigines launched regular raids on isolated farms and travellers, indiscriminately killing men, women and children. Their deaths were not quick or clean, with clear evidence of brutality and even torture. As art and oral histories from the time reveal, many farms became virtual castles, with high walls and other defences installed. While the men would go out to work, constantly watching their backs, the women would stay home and nervously scan the walls for signs of movement.
Clements argues that it is only by understanding this fear that the actions of the white population can truly be understood. He counters the arguments of Robert Hughes and some on the left who have described Tasmania as a site of ‘genocide’. In Clements’ view there was neither the ideology or systematic application of violence to justify this label. Yet contra the absurdities of Keith Windschuttle and others, the record of brutality and ultimate extermination of the indigenous population by the white colonial population is clear.
This is a book born of and during the so-called ‘History Wars’, a context the author is very aware of. Despite being the PhD student of one of the key players Henry Reynolds —who also pens the foreword— Clements has written a text that challenges the claims of both sides. His careful scholarship and efforts at balance should in an ideal world help move the national discussion beyond the otherwise superficial back and forth that have thus far defined Australia’s discussion of its colonial history.
Along the way, Clements tells the story of Australia’s most significant indigenous war. The Black War was a true war in the sense of clear sides engaged in a violent struggle for ultimately incompatible political ends —to live on Van Diemen's land without the other. Fascinatingly, Clements suggests that some of the indigenous population saw white settlers not as other humans, but as returned and evil spirits. The growing size of their population and fearful new weapons can only have added to this perception of an other-worldly threat.
The Black War may be unique in human history for its solar rhythm. The indigenous population only launched attacks during the day. The colonials almost only during the night. The reasons for this are obvious. During the day, the superior knowledge and skills of the aborigines allowed them to evade capture or detection. Their only vulnerability was at night as they slept and their camp fires —necessary for warmth in Tasmania’s often wet and cold climate— gave away their location.
The Black War also features the largest military operation on Australian soil. The Black Line was a foolish and misguided effort to have white convicts and soldiers link arms and draw a human line across the island. The idea was to pen in, capture and kill as many aborigines as they could find. Yet almost none were detected by the thousands involved, and after two embarrassing months of failure and growing misery for those stuck out in the bush, it was abandoned.
While many of the colonial strategies were absurd, the colonial structure and shackled convict population gave the white population an advantage their opponents did not have. Due to the divided nature of aboriginal society their actions never rose above the level of tactics. Tribes rarely cooperated against their common enemy and some betrayed rival tribes for the spoils of war.
There’s no single ‘lesson’ that can be drawn from this conflict. Knowing this history won’t suddenly help Australia solve the immense problems confronting its contemporary indigenous population. But we’d be a closer to a resolution if more of us, as citizens and commentators could emulate Clements’ efforts to genuinely understand and empathise with all involved in conflict.
Except the slave-owning seal hunters off the North-West cape. Fuck those guys.
The most striking feature of this book is that every chapter is equally divided between telling the story of Whites and Blacks. This clever device allows Clements’ to explore, explain and ultimately sympathise with both sides.
Lest anyone be confused, or willing to believe indulgent lies, the moral scales are heavily weighted in one direction. The Tasmanian aborigines lived for 33’000 years on this remote island, yet survived barely 30 more after white colonialists arrived. They faced not only the destruction of their lives, but also their cultures, their way of life. The final years must have been as miserable as any people have lived, in the face of a relentless and ever strengthening opponent.
Worse, the lawless men operating off the Northwest coast hunting seals effectively established a slave society. They —like others across the island—kidnapped aboriginal women for sex. These women were then forced into bondage to serve, and killed when no longer useful. Hundreds of women suffered in this fashion over many years. Clements’ chapter on this vile period is as grim and sorrowful an incident in Australian history as I have ever encountered.
Yet a true picture of this conflict requires an understanding that the indigenous population must not be viewed through crude stereotypes of noble savages with a nature-infused purity. There were misogynistic and brutal elements of the indigenous culture. The Black War was a real war and the white population —many of whom were forced to be there as convicts or as very poor settlers— lived for many years in real terror.
The aborigines launched regular raids on isolated farms and travellers, indiscriminately killing men, women and children. Their deaths were not quick or clean, with clear evidence of brutality and even torture. As art and oral histories from the time reveal, many farms became virtual castles, with high walls and other defences installed. While the men would go out to work, constantly watching their backs, the women would stay home and nervously scan the walls for signs of movement.
Clements argues that it is only by understanding this fear that the actions of the white population can truly be understood. He counters the arguments of Robert Hughes and some on the left who have described Tasmania as a site of ‘genocide’. In Clements’ view there was neither the ideology or systematic application of violence to justify this label. Yet contra the absurdities of Keith Windschuttle and others, the record of brutality and ultimate extermination of the indigenous population by the white colonial population is clear.
This is a book born of and during the so-called ‘History Wars’, a context the author is very aware of. Despite being the PhD student of one of the key players Henry Reynolds —who also pens the foreword— Clements has written a text that challenges the claims of both sides. His careful scholarship and efforts at balance should in an ideal world help move the national discussion beyond the otherwise superficial back and forth that have thus far defined Australia’s discussion of its colonial history.
Along the way, Clements tells the story of Australia’s most significant indigenous war. The Black War was a true war in the sense of clear sides engaged in a violent struggle for ultimately incompatible political ends —to live on Van Diemen's land without the other. Fascinatingly, Clements suggests that some of the indigenous population saw white settlers not as other humans, but as returned and evil spirits. The growing size of their population and fearful new weapons can only have added to this perception of an other-worldly threat.
The Black War may be unique in human history for its solar rhythm. The indigenous population only launched attacks during the day. The colonials almost only during the night. The reasons for this are obvious. During the day, the superior knowledge and skills of the aborigines allowed them to evade capture or detection. Their only vulnerability was at night as they slept and their camp fires —necessary for warmth in Tasmania’s often wet and cold climate— gave away their location.
The Black War also features the largest military operation on Australian soil. The Black Line was a foolish and misguided effort to have white convicts and soldiers link arms and draw a human line across the island. The idea was to pen in, capture and kill as many aborigines as they could find. Yet almost none were detected by the thousands involved, and after two embarrassing months of failure and growing misery for those stuck out in the bush, it was abandoned.
While many of the colonial strategies were absurd, the colonial structure and shackled convict population gave the white population an advantage their opponents did not have. Due to the divided nature of aboriginal society their actions never rose above the level of tactics. Tribes rarely cooperated against their common enemy and some betrayed rival tribes for the spoils of war.
There’s no single ‘lesson’ that can be drawn from this conflict. Knowing this history won’t suddenly help Australia solve the immense problems confronting its contemporary indigenous population. But we’d be a closer to a resolution if more of us, as citizens and commentators could emulate Clements’ efforts to genuinely understand and empathise with all involved in conflict.
Except the slave-owning seal hunters off the North-West cape. Fuck those guys.
January 15, 2017
I moved to Tasmania from the mainland nearly eight years ago and made it a goal to find out about the history of this state. What I discovered shocked me. That very few of my neighbours and work colleagues (who had grown up here) knew about the history of this state was just as shocking. It would seem there had been a deliberate policy not to teach students in this state what had transpired here. Thankfully (with the National Curriculum) this is beginning to change. The first thing to understand about this particular book is that it is not a novel. It is a history book. It is written with facts and figures based on letters, diaries, written accounts and newspaper articles from the time. As such it doesn't encourage a deeper sense of empathy for the people it is written about. It is all just a bit 'removed'. I guess for people learning about the conflict for the first time, this writing style will be helpful in processing the events and the outcomes described. For me, there was an opportunity to connect with these people on a human level that went begging. In particular, I have an issue with the way domestic violence was suggested as a 'way of life' for the Aboriginal people. Are we to believe domestic violence was more prevalent than in other communities around the world? What specific evidence does the writer have that this is the case? This is a very prejudicial statement to make without further qualifications. Also I found the dispassionate way he wrote about the atrocities suffered by the Aboriginals at the hands of the colonists at times difficult to read. It was too 'matter-of-fact'. That said, I do believe this is an important book. Most Australians and in particular Tasmanians know nothing of Tasmanian history. It is about time this very dark, cruel chapter was revealed and the author has presented a well-researched and even-handed account. For me the real test for this book will be when Tasmanian Aboriginal people have read and reviewed it. I am very interested in their perspective. Overall, this book offers essential information regarding how Tasmania came to be the place it is now and all that entails.
January 17, 2023
A really good birds-eye-view of the conflict between Tasmanian Aboriginal folks and white british settlers. Each chapter is divided into two parts where it will examine a specific topic of stage of the conflict and give the White and Black perspective, giving really detailed insights about the culture, war tactics, and violence committed by both sides. I think the work's conclusion did a liiitle bit too much 'well they were both just as bad and just as traumatised as each other' like I get the point that this was ultimately a human conflict, but like, wiping out nearly an entire culture and way of life and setting the chain reactions for a system of oppression that still exists to this day doesn't make both societies just as culpable, but I understand that was outside of the scope of this book, and it would be unfair to say that my criticism of the conclusion is an accurate summary of the whole book because it isn't. That note was only at the very very end and the rest was extremely detailed and pulls no punches into how horrific the persecution and violence towards tasmanians aboriginals was. If you know nothing on the topic, this is a great jumping in point that can act as a springboard to learning more about the subject.
October 31, 2015
The Tasmanian Aborigines lived in total isolation for 20,000 years until the English came at the end of the 18th century to create penal colonies and new settlements. The new settlers and their government could not or would not share the island with the Tasmanian Aborigines, so they exterminated all the aborigines in a 35 year war of attrition.
The author is a native Tasmanian in his thirties who wrote this book as part of a PhD program.
The book is well researched and written. The brutality is unimaginable. The 'Sex" in the title has to do with whites stealing black women. White women were nowhere in sight. The Tasmanian Aborigines were not the only people facing genocide or ethnic cleansing in the last three hundred years, but they may be the only ones totally eliminated................
The author is a native Tasmanian in his thirties who wrote this book as part of a PhD program.
The book is well researched and written. The brutality is unimaginable. The 'Sex" in the title has to do with whites stealing black women. White women were nowhere in sight. The Tasmanian Aborigines were not the only people facing genocide or ethnic cleansing in the last three hundred years, but they may be the only ones totally eliminated................
September 9, 2025
An important work, illuminating a part of Australian history I had no idea about.
Read
September 24, 2025"the invasion of their homelands cost most Tasmanians their life, but it cost all of them their way of life"
the education system that I experienced in Australia had a significant lack of focus on Aboriginal history. therefore, this was an extremely informative book on the Black War in Tasmania. this book was interestingly formatted - with sections of the 'white' perspective and the 'black perspective' of this conflict. in that way, this book was a morally challenging narrative that illustrated the consequences of the British Invasion, and the innate fear that grew in both communities.
the education system that I experienced in Australia had a significant lack of focus on Aboriginal history. therefore, this was an extremely informative book on the Black War in Tasmania. this book was interestingly formatted - with sections of the 'white' perspective and the 'black perspective' of this conflict. in that way, this book was a morally challenging narrative that illustrated the consequences of the British Invasion, and the innate fear that grew in both communities.
August 28, 2014
The question of whether the colonists committed genocide against the Tasmanians is debated. Yet the author's argument is specious. It is clear that he has never studied what genocide is, but is going by the popular image of the Holocaust as his benchmark. That's inadequate for a scholar.
September 14, 2025
3 stars.
I found this book to be a very harrowing read and rightfully so. For me, this book partially complements the topic of the Aboriginal resistance (Frontier Wars) in Australia against the white settler colonialism.
I appreciate the novel idea of giving an empathic perspective of the Black War from both the Indigenous (termed as Black by the author) in Tasmania against the settler colonists, convicts, soldiers, sealers (termed as White by the author). Author's aim here is to end the 'history wars' but I don't think this could end as such.
Moreover, the author has brought up a subdued dimension to this war: sex. How when Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania as it was named back then) was being colonized by the British, there was a heavy gender imbalance with so many men being sexually depraved who'd abduct Aboriginal women to have them as sex slaves, subject them to torture and put some of them in chattel slavery. This would eventually lead to Aboriginal resistance which was not only about protecting their land and their customs.
What irked me most were the following points:
1. I disliked the categorization of parties in this war as black and white. Whereas, it should have been Indigenous/Aboriginals vs convicts, settlers, soldiers and sealers depending on the chapters throughout the book.
2. The author does not give much context on how the "whites" started to take over Tasmania and what prompted them to snatch the lands from the aboriginals there as in the role of Britain. How the administrative machination worked in those days in this colony. Basically, who was who and doing what?
3. The author's reluctance to call it a genocide. The author believes that the indigenous people engaged in guerilla warfare against the whites, so it should be classified as a war, not genocide. Whereas, in almost every genocide, the victims somehow put up a resistance against the oppressors within their capabilities.
4. The author hasn't really critiqued on how Van Diemen's Land Company established in London in the name of capitalism with an obvious selfish aim of to increase stakeholders' wealth. The said company was responsible for wiping off the indigenous population in the North Western Tasmania under the directives of Edward Curr.
5. The remaining surviving aboriginals of Tasmania were exiled to Wybalenna in Flinders Island at the end of the Black War. The author should have covered how due to mismanagement of George Augustus Robinson who was overseeing them, a lot of them died there.
Otherwise, it would have been a great read for me. I would still recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about this period but don't solely rely on this book.
I found this book to be a very harrowing read and rightfully so. For me, this book partially complements the topic of the Aboriginal resistance (Frontier Wars) in Australia against the white settler colonialism.
I appreciate the novel idea of giving an empathic perspective of the Black War from both the Indigenous (termed as Black by the author) in Tasmania against the settler colonists, convicts, soldiers, sealers (termed as White by the author). Author's aim here is to end the 'history wars' but I don't think this could end as such.
Moreover, the author has brought up a subdued dimension to this war: sex. How when Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania as it was named back then) was being colonized by the British, there was a heavy gender imbalance with so many men being sexually depraved who'd abduct Aboriginal women to have them as sex slaves, subject them to torture and put some of them in chattel slavery. This would eventually lead to Aboriginal resistance which was not only about protecting their land and their customs.
What irked me most were the following points:
1. I disliked the categorization of parties in this war as black and white. Whereas, it should have been Indigenous/Aboriginals vs convicts, settlers, soldiers and sealers depending on the chapters throughout the book.
2. The author does not give much context on how the "whites" started to take over Tasmania and what prompted them to snatch the lands from the aboriginals there as in the role of Britain. How the administrative machination worked in those days in this colony. Basically, who was who and doing what?
3. The author's reluctance to call it a genocide. The author believes that the indigenous people engaged in guerilla warfare against the whites, so it should be classified as a war, not genocide. Whereas, in almost every genocide, the victims somehow put up a resistance against the oppressors within their capabilities.
4. The author hasn't really critiqued on how Van Diemen's Land Company established in London in the name of capitalism with an obvious selfish aim of to increase stakeholders' wealth. The said company was responsible for wiping off the indigenous population in the North Western Tasmania under the directives of Edward Curr.
5. The remaining surviving aboriginals of Tasmania were exiled to Wybalenna in Flinders Island at the end of the Black War. The author should have covered how due to mismanagement of George Augustus Robinson who was overseeing them, a lot of them died there.
Otherwise, it would have been a great read for me. I would still recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about this period but don't solely rely on this book.
August 5, 2014
In my latter years I shied away from it - I really did. The history needed to be taught – in fact, it should be a compulsory requirement in our island's schools. But working with the Aboriginal community to improve the outcomes of indigenous students (one of the most enlightening and enjoyable aspects of a forty year career), I discovered there were divisions within their number over the story that needed to be told and so, from the classroom perspective, I became wary. I stuck to the big picture, the narrative over the whole of the country, conveniently ignoring that of the local peoples. I am now out of the loop, so to speak, so I am not sure if attitudes have changed – softened in recent times. I firmly believe no Tasmanian child should depart the process without a firm understanding of the clash between two cultures on this state's historical frontiers.
'The Black Wars' is a fascinating, often troubling book. Clements has been courageous. He doesn't shy away. Some of the factual accounts of what actually happened during the period covered does not make for pretty reading. With this whole, decidedly sorry saga, there are two words that have always troubled me – the notion that what happened out on the backblocks during this time was a 'war' – the notion that the result was a conscious policy of 'genocide'. As for the former, the raw figures are minuscule compared to the great clashes of the last hundred years and it always seemed to me that the skirmishes that went on would be better described as a 'conflict'. But when Clements boils it all down to percentages, then a different hue is cast on the events. It transforms the data. The military involvement he illuminates was also much larger that I had previously envisaged. As a result, 'war' now sits more comfortably.
Certainly there were calls for 'extermination' as the 'war' rolled over from the 1820s into the next decade – and on the North West Frontier on into the 1840s (it intrigued me that the final recorded skirmish of it occurred in the Table Cape area, the very region I spent the final years of my time teaching). During these years, as Clements so vividly describes, the fear and loathing on both sides of the ledger for the other were palpable. For a time the colony was nigh on paralysed by the atrocities committed by 'white' and 'black' and the terror that ensued. In some sectors of the settler community hotheads did call for the Aboriginals to pay the ultimate price – and there is no doubt of what, by the end, the latter were attempting to do. Of course their goal was futile and they knew it as their attacks went from targeted to indiscriminate. Never was it otherwise that the odds were stacked in favour of the invaders. The problem with all this is that, out in the remote rural areas, officialdom had little control – and the brutal background of many of the 'white' transgressors in these locations meant there occurred scenes of unmitigated inhumanity. This could not be tolerated by the native warrior chiefs – they were forced to retaliate in kind. It is worth remembering that, in the period just before the conflict heated up, Van Diemans Land had only just recovered from the debilitation caused by unrestrained bushranger gangs.
Clements, after placing what he intended to do with 'The Black War' in context, looked at it largely on the ground rather than in the halls of government. Using the reasonably considerable contemporary accounts to be had – at least on the invaders' side – he successfully places the reader squarely in the middle of it all so he/she feels the desperation increase for both parties as no solutions to it, other than those of a violent nature, could be found. No soft gloves were used here by the author, as even the nobility of the 'black' cause gave way to heinous slaughter of the innocents – as well as the deserving.
Circling around all this was the work of George Augustus Robinson – once the hero of the times (as well as in the era of my own education), but these days more of a divisive figure. It's his copious journal keeping that has largely provided Clements with the Aboriginal take on the events. The saddest, most heart wrenching data of all involves the incredibly small numbers that he retrieved from the bush as the last of the warrior groups surrendered. The settlers were incredulous that so few caused so much mayhem towards the end. For me much of the territory Clements wrote on was known in an overall sense – albeit not the gory detail. What really came as a surprise was how much of a shambles the notorious Black Line was. I knew how badly it failed, putting that down to the ingenuity of those they were attempting to ensnare. Largely, though, it was the complete mismanagement of the grand strategy by the authorities, as well as the lack of real enthusiasm by the settler/military participants once they had to do battle with the vagaries of a Tasmanian spring in a wild terrain.
Logically sex would have had to have been a factor in all this – the bulk of 'white' maledom wasn't getting any, at least of the 'legal' variety, as a result of a substantial gender imbalance. Here the 'blacks' could provide a source for alleviating that need. In the main this was foul, unforgiving sex. The 'gins' became little more than slaves if captured, often ending their use with a bullet to the head – and the crass class that inhabited the fringes of 'civilization' liked their prey to be as tender in years as possible. Ugly, ugly stuff – at its most barbaric out on the Strait’s islands. It is this frontier that Clements suggests is worthy of a deeper examination in a future tome – only, at this stage, he isn't prepared to write it. This is largely, I would think, for the same reasons that I wasn't prepared to take what I knew into the classroom. He claims ample documentation for what went on is available and not all of it puts the blame squarely on the side of the colonials. Clements noted that Aboriginal women were used by their men folk as bargaining tools – in some cases readily prostituting their females to gain favour, tucker or other wares.
With 'The Black War' Clements complements others working in the same area such as Boyce and his mentor, Henry Reynolds. I would strongly suggest that this book be an insisted read for any educator intending to take our island's dark history to his/her students. With his research you would also think that the so-called 'history wars' have well and truly been put to bed.
To complete this appraisal, here are two interesting facts that the author brings to our attention. The first was that the initial Tasmanians never attacked during the night when the spirits abounded, whereas their enemy usually preferred the cover of darkness to slaughter our first inhabitants in their camps. Secondly, contrary to expectation, although the killing of livestock by the 'blacks' was common, what they speared and waddied out of existence was never consumed.
Clements' tome is a fine achievement, with the author greatly impressing at the recent launch of 'The Black War' in Hobart. I had the pleasure of sitting next to his mother at the event and she was justly proud of her son. His work is revelatory to say the least.
'The Black Wars' is a fascinating, often troubling book. Clements has been courageous. He doesn't shy away. Some of the factual accounts of what actually happened during the period covered does not make for pretty reading. With this whole, decidedly sorry saga, there are two words that have always troubled me – the notion that what happened out on the backblocks during this time was a 'war' – the notion that the result was a conscious policy of 'genocide'. As for the former, the raw figures are minuscule compared to the great clashes of the last hundred years and it always seemed to me that the skirmishes that went on would be better described as a 'conflict'. But when Clements boils it all down to percentages, then a different hue is cast on the events. It transforms the data. The military involvement he illuminates was also much larger that I had previously envisaged. As a result, 'war' now sits more comfortably.
Certainly there were calls for 'extermination' as the 'war' rolled over from the 1820s into the next decade – and on the North West Frontier on into the 1840s (it intrigued me that the final recorded skirmish of it occurred in the Table Cape area, the very region I spent the final years of my time teaching). During these years, as Clements so vividly describes, the fear and loathing on both sides of the ledger for the other were palpable. For a time the colony was nigh on paralysed by the atrocities committed by 'white' and 'black' and the terror that ensued. In some sectors of the settler community hotheads did call for the Aboriginals to pay the ultimate price – and there is no doubt of what, by the end, the latter were attempting to do. Of course their goal was futile and they knew it as their attacks went from targeted to indiscriminate. Never was it otherwise that the odds were stacked in favour of the invaders. The problem with all this is that, out in the remote rural areas, officialdom had little control – and the brutal background of many of the 'white' transgressors in these locations meant there occurred scenes of unmitigated inhumanity. This could not be tolerated by the native warrior chiefs – they were forced to retaliate in kind. It is worth remembering that, in the period just before the conflict heated up, Van Diemans Land had only just recovered from the debilitation caused by unrestrained bushranger gangs.
Clements, after placing what he intended to do with 'The Black War' in context, looked at it largely on the ground rather than in the halls of government. Using the reasonably considerable contemporary accounts to be had – at least on the invaders' side – he successfully places the reader squarely in the middle of it all so he/she feels the desperation increase for both parties as no solutions to it, other than those of a violent nature, could be found. No soft gloves were used here by the author, as even the nobility of the 'black' cause gave way to heinous slaughter of the innocents – as well as the deserving.
Circling around all this was the work of George Augustus Robinson – once the hero of the times (as well as in the era of my own education), but these days more of a divisive figure. It's his copious journal keeping that has largely provided Clements with the Aboriginal take on the events. The saddest, most heart wrenching data of all involves the incredibly small numbers that he retrieved from the bush as the last of the warrior groups surrendered. The settlers were incredulous that so few caused so much mayhem towards the end. For me much of the territory Clements wrote on was known in an overall sense – albeit not the gory detail. What really came as a surprise was how much of a shambles the notorious Black Line was. I knew how badly it failed, putting that down to the ingenuity of those they were attempting to ensnare. Largely, though, it was the complete mismanagement of the grand strategy by the authorities, as well as the lack of real enthusiasm by the settler/military participants once they had to do battle with the vagaries of a Tasmanian spring in a wild terrain.
Logically sex would have had to have been a factor in all this – the bulk of 'white' maledom wasn't getting any, at least of the 'legal' variety, as a result of a substantial gender imbalance. Here the 'blacks' could provide a source for alleviating that need. In the main this was foul, unforgiving sex. The 'gins' became little more than slaves if captured, often ending their use with a bullet to the head – and the crass class that inhabited the fringes of 'civilization' liked their prey to be as tender in years as possible. Ugly, ugly stuff – at its most barbaric out on the Strait’s islands. It is this frontier that Clements suggests is worthy of a deeper examination in a future tome – only, at this stage, he isn't prepared to write it. This is largely, I would think, for the same reasons that I wasn't prepared to take what I knew into the classroom. He claims ample documentation for what went on is available and not all of it puts the blame squarely on the side of the colonials. Clements noted that Aboriginal women were used by their men folk as bargaining tools – in some cases readily prostituting their females to gain favour, tucker or other wares.
With 'The Black War' Clements complements others working in the same area such as Boyce and his mentor, Henry Reynolds. I would strongly suggest that this book be an insisted read for any educator intending to take our island's dark history to his/her students. With his research you would also think that the so-called 'history wars' have well and truly been put to bed.
To complete this appraisal, here are two interesting facts that the author brings to our attention. The first was that the initial Tasmanians never attacked during the night when the spirits abounded, whereas their enemy usually preferred the cover of darkness to slaughter our first inhabitants in their camps. Secondly, contrary to expectation, although the killing of livestock by the 'blacks' was common, what they speared and waddied out of existence was never consumed.
Clements' tome is a fine achievement, with the author greatly impressing at the recent launch of 'The Black War' in Hobart. I had the pleasure of sitting next to his mother at the event and she was justly proud of her son. His work is revelatory to say the least.
January 22, 2021
"Stuff like that doesn't happen in Tasmania", is a remark often made by inhabitants of the world's most beautiful island when news reaches us of terror attacks, political upheaval or massacres abroad. While Tasmania is now stable and (mostly) peaceful, the Black War is one of several works I've read recently that reminds us that the modern state was born through extreme violence. Most of our [Anglo-Celtic Tasmanians'] ancestors bayed for the extermination of an entire race: exactly the bloodlust and savagery that most Tasmanians see as the domain as foreigners seen only on the news or in documentaries about 20th Century Europe.
Clements has provided a detailed examination of what came to be known as the Black War, with a focus on social history rather than relying on official records. Most of the accounts come from newspapers (for colonists) and from Robinson's papers (for indigenous Tasmanians). Despite its scholarly bearing, it's an accessible read which successfully conveys the emotions experienced by the colonists and as far as possible (due to obvious source limitations) for Aboriginal Tasmanians.
This book derives from a PhD thesis and is consequently lean, focused and thoroughly sourced.
In the introduction and conclusion Clements adopts what, since 2017, we would call a "both sides" argument that essentially equates the experiences of both the European invaders and the original occupants of Tasmania. I found this difficult to reconcile with his acknowledgment elsewhere that for Aboriginal Tasmanians the war was one of resistance, and one characterised for many years by targeted reprisals carried out by indigenous people for frequently gruesome and bloodthirsty attacks by Europeans (whose racism the book largely discounts). At the end of the day, one side of the "war" lost a society tens of thousands of years old. I also found the author's use of "the blacks" and "the natives" as descriptors - in his own words, not only when citing Europeans - as jarring and unnecessary.
Nevertheless, the book is of a high standard and there is lots to learn from it.
Clements has provided a detailed examination of what came to be known as the Black War, with a focus on social history rather than relying on official records. Most of the accounts come from newspapers (for colonists) and from Robinson's papers (for indigenous Tasmanians). Despite its scholarly bearing, it's an accessible read which successfully conveys the emotions experienced by the colonists and as far as possible (due to obvious source limitations) for Aboriginal Tasmanians.
This book derives from a PhD thesis and is consequently lean, focused and thoroughly sourced.
In the introduction and conclusion Clements adopts what, since 2017, we would call a "both sides" argument that essentially equates the experiences of both the European invaders and the original occupants of Tasmania. I found this difficult to reconcile with his acknowledgment elsewhere that for Aboriginal Tasmanians the war was one of resistance, and one characterised for many years by targeted reprisals carried out by indigenous people for frequently gruesome and bloodthirsty attacks by Europeans (whose racism the book largely discounts). At the end of the day, one side of the "war" lost a society tens of thousands of years old. I also found the author's use of "the blacks" and "the natives" as descriptors - in his own words, not only when citing Europeans - as jarring and unnecessary.
Nevertheless, the book is of a high standard and there is lots to learn from it.
November 21, 2022
In two words, Brutally Confronting
I fully appreciate that this work came from the authors PhD doctorate, and in his own words, has had the academic terminology and content removed, in the production of this, a work that is therefore more accessible to the general reader. As a PhD work too, it does not sanitize the actions of those engaged in the conflict that came to be between in White settlers/invaders and the Black indigenous tribes that populated Tasmania at the time of the arrival of the Whites.
It is those actions, the referenced historical documentation, of those actions and the attitudes of those who perpetrated and supported them that this reader found brutally confronting. Disgusting, repulsive and wholly illegal by our societal standards of 2022. Disturbing to the point that I had to take several breaks from reading this work.
It is a component of Australian History that I, as a secondary student of the 1980’s, was definitely not taught in any aspect. It is a component of history that I believe should be taught, for whilst I agree with the concept of “I cannot apologize or compensate for the actions of my Grandfather’s time and those before, I can be rightly disgusted by what occurred”, it is a time in Australian history that needs to be understood.
A work that presents, to the best of academic and historical record, both the Black and the White sides of a horrible time in history.
It still disturbs me, and like all good works, will likely do for an unseeable amount of time.
I fully appreciate that this work came from the authors PhD doctorate, and in his own words, has had the academic terminology and content removed, in the production of this, a work that is therefore more accessible to the general reader. As a PhD work too, it does not sanitize the actions of those engaged in the conflict that came to be between in White settlers/invaders and the Black indigenous tribes that populated Tasmania at the time of the arrival of the Whites.
It is those actions, the referenced historical documentation, of those actions and the attitudes of those who perpetrated and supported them that this reader found brutally confronting. Disgusting, repulsive and wholly illegal by our societal standards of 2022. Disturbing to the point that I had to take several breaks from reading this work.
It is a component of Australian History that I, as a secondary student of the 1980’s, was definitely not taught in any aspect. It is a component of history that I believe should be taught, for whilst I agree with the concept of “I cannot apologize or compensate for the actions of my Grandfather’s time and those before, I can be rightly disgusted by what occurred”, it is a time in Australian history that needs to be understood.
A work that presents, to the best of academic and historical record, both the Black and the White sides of a horrible time in history.
It still disturbs me, and like all good works, will likely do for an unseeable amount of time.
August 4, 2023
An interesting examination of the war raged on each other by Tasmanians and the invading Europeans in the 1820’s. The author seeks not to pass any moral judgments on either side of this cultural divide but by using documentation, illuminate how the war was fought. For the Aboriginal combatants, he has leaned heavily on the journals kept by George Robinson of interviews with the beaten warriors both during and after the war. That atrocities were perpetrated by both white and black is not at question and Clements judges none for their actions as “judgment contributes nothing to our understanding”. However, reading the book, one finds it hard not to feel the weight of blame falls on invaders who stole aboriginal women for sex, shooting men and using bayonets and clubs to murder children in the process and often performing unspeakable acts on those they stole once they felt gratified. Their justification was always that the Tasmanians were a sub-race and not really human. An important read if one is to have a full understand of the inequitable relationship between black and white and clearly see the need for a Voice and a Treaty.
February 19, 2019
Very interesting, and a difficult topic to treat evenly given the pre-literate nature of the Aboriginal population at the time. He does well at examining both sides of the equation without laying blame. One thing I had a real problem with, though, was his decision to refer to the Aboriginal people as 'blacks' during the sections written from the settlers perspective. It felt unnecessary and bordered on racist. Keeping the language of the settlers during direct quotes is one thing, but to actively take their language for your own when you claim you're trying to be impartial is unacceptable.
March 7, 2017
I came across this beauty while in Tasmania. It has easily become one of my favourite non-fiction books (ever). A definite read for anyone interested in the colonialist history of Australia. Using whack-ton of primary sources, the author gives a comprehensive yet often distressing view from *both* sides of The Black War. This was a history lesson that was far removed from my regular classroom, and I'm grateful I happened across it.
June 22, 2021
An excellent book on Tasmanian history that uses documentation from a variety of sources - diaries, letters, offical records, newspaper reports - to consider what happened in the relations between indigenous people and the colonisers. Meticulously researched, harrowing and very readable. If you only read one book on the history of Tasmania, this is my recommendation. An incredible achievement.
August 15, 2016
I put off reading this book for months and months because I thought it would be a searing read. This episode of Australian history (1824 – 1842) was marked by violence, horror and terror. The intensity of the conflict and its outcome was more extreme in Tasmania than on the mainland.
Clements’ approach to the subject developed over years of research and a pivotal reading of 'The Palestine-Israeli conflict: a beginner’s guide' in 2008 (on a rainy day in his one-man tent in Serbia, no less). He has attempted to avoid the common binary oppositions usually evident in treatments of the subject by alternating viewpoints White-Black-White-Black. The academic foundations of the book are visible in the (mostly) objective tone. Clements has avoided the purple prose and trench warfare. Thankfully. Consequently, this is a book that can be easily read to learn about and understand this period; whether you go on the emotional roller coaster ride is up to you.
As a Tasmanian (now), my understanding of the relationship between indigenous and immigrant communities in Tasmania has been deepened by reading this book. In my opinion, Clements has achieved his aim of depicting the historical event in a way that amplifies the human stories in what happened. Some of it was horrific. None of it was inevitable but I have a new appreciation of the brutalising effect of British social system as it pertained to the lower rungs of its society, and of the ferocious defence of their country mounted by the indigenous people.
Perhaps most critically, I see in the present-day interactions the emotional, political, social and psychological ramifications of the Black War. Thank you, Nicholas.
Clements’ approach to the subject developed over years of research and a pivotal reading of 'The Palestine-Israeli conflict: a beginner’s guide' in 2008 (on a rainy day in his one-man tent in Serbia, no less). He has attempted to avoid the common binary oppositions usually evident in treatments of the subject by alternating viewpoints White-Black-White-Black. The academic foundations of the book are visible in the (mostly) objective tone. Clements has avoided the purple prose and trench warfare. Thankfully. Consequently, this is a book that can be easily read to learn about and understand this period; whether you go on the emotional roller coaster ride is up to you.
As a Tasmanian (now), my understanding of the relationship between indigenous and immigrant communities in Tasmania has been deepened by reading this book. In my opinion, Clements has achieved his aim of depicting the historical event in a way that amplifies the human stories in what happened. Some of it was horrific. None of it was inevitable but I have a new appreciation of the brutalising effect of British social system as it pertained to the lower rungs of its society, and of the ferocious defence of their country mounted by the indigenous people.
Perhaps most critically, I see in the present-day interactions the emotional, political, social and psychological ramifications of the Black War. Thank you, Nicholas.
January 6, 2015
You hear rumours of bad things that happened a long time ago, but by the time you hear them, they have usually undergone the full gamut of exaggeration and embroidery. I wanted to know what really happened about the Aborigines in Tasmania. This book informed me, with what I think is as balanced a view as one could expect, given that the Aborigines were a pre-literate society and did not leave records in writing. It is extremely detailed, as befits a book originating in a thesis. Reading it, one cannot sympathise more with one side than another, for it lays bare the awful prospect that peoples of very different kinds cannot expect to get along, no matter how much we would want them to. This book, for me, was not just a detailed history of the confrontation between the British settlers and the Aborigines. It was a reminder of all the times in history, now mostly forgotten, when races came up against one another in their quest for land and resources, and the only possible outcome was war, sometimes to the bitter end. Very sobering stuff. The account is written in good language, and kept up my interest. What I felt was missing, was some kind of summary of what has happened to the descendants of the Bass Strait sealers and the Aboriginal women they enslaved. Where are they now? Altogether an absorbing read, if you can stomach graphic accounts of spearings and shootings, and you want to know what really happened.
July 14, 2014
Clements has done a bloody good job at attempting to take the polemic out of the polemical, but has not quite succeeded in a task that is quite possibly impossible. The separation of each chapter into "Black" and "White" sections is an ingeneous device which, I am surprised, does not appear to have been used before. The research was first rate, with his conclusions falling somewhere in the middle of Reynolds and Boyce, although I confess I still remain a Boyceite. I'm glad to have added this work to my shelves and I'll be using Clements' legwork in my own book.
November 17, 2020
Filled with endless college-boy sermonizing. There are two types of historians, those who present the unvarnished facts and let you draw your own conclusions, and those who think it's absolute torture if the readers use their own brains.
Clements is one of the latter. This type of author thinks his audience is, mentally speaking, about 10 years old, so it must be told what to think every step of the way. This type of writer gets an ego-boost from this, because it's a way of making the narrative all about the author and the author's opinions.
Avoid.
Clements is one of the latter. This type of author thinks his audience is, mentally speaking, about 10 years old, so it must be told what to think every step of the way. This type of writer gets an ego-boost from this, because it's a way of making the narrative all about the author and the author's opinions.
Avoid.
March 23, 2016
Very detailed research covering the few years it took the white settlers to remove the Aboriginal inhabitants of Tasmania. Chapters are divided into parts covering the perspectives of the "White" and "Black" participants. A classic study of how human beings treat those who are different.
Henry Reynolds "Forgotten War" has more impact but Clements' book is a well needed addition to the history of Australia and the impact of Imperialism and Empire building.
Henry Reynolds "Forgotten War" has more impact but Clements' book is a well needed addition to the history of Australia and the impact of Imperialism and Empire building.
January 16, 2015
Certainly is a different perspective from all other reading I have done on the subject. Well researched although at times repetitive on certain points, I think it is because the book morphed from the writers thesis, it does not take anything away from the content. A must read if you are interested in Tasmanian history.
July 9, 2014
This book was clearly written, powerfully compelling, and, I'd go so far as to say, revolutionary in it's style and content.
The black/white structure of each chapter makes for an emotional roller coaster and captivating reading.
This is non-fiction at its absolute best! six stars!
The black/white structure of each chapter makes for an emotional roller coaster and captivating reading.
This is non-fiction at its absolute best! six stars!
October 8, 2016
A very good history of the often forgotten war of colonisation in Tasmania. Nick's bipartisan approach provides the facts of the war framed within the experiences of those who lived and fought during it.
January 30, 2015
This is brilliantly researched and uses a clever and revealing method of exposition. A very compelling read and one that is pretty much essential for anyone interested in Australian history.
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