The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia

The Story of Australia's People #1

by Geoffrey Blainey

The vast, ancient land of Australia was settled in two main streams, far apart in time and origin.

The first stream of immigrants came ashore some 50,000 years ago when the islands of Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea were one. The second began to arrive from Europe at the end of the eighteenth century. Each had to come to terms with the land they found, and each had to make sense of the other. It was not – and is still not – an easy relationship, and the story of Australia's people is as complex as it is rich.

The long Aboriginal occupation of Australia witnessed spectacular changes. The rising of the seas isolated the continent and preserved a nomadic way of life as agriculture revolutionised other parts of the world. Over millennia, the Aboriginal people mastered the land's climates, seasons and reserves.

Traditional Aboriginal life came under threat the moment Europeans crossed the world to plant a new society in an unknown land. Australia was to be a land that rewarded, tricked, tantalised and often defeated the new arrivals. The meeting of the two cultures is one of the most difficult meetings in history.

In The Story of Australia's People, Professor Geoffrey Blainey returns to the subject of his most celebrated works on Australian history, Triumph of the Nomads (1975) and A Land Half Won (1980), retelling the story of our history up until 1850 in light of the latest research and archaeological findings. Some of those findings have led him to change his mind about vital aspects of Aboriginal history, examined more fully here than in any other popular history of Australia yet published.

Compelling, groundbreaking and brilliantly readable, The Story of Australia's People is the first installment of an ambitious two-part work, and the culmination of the life work of Australia's most respected historian.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Australia

Paperback

First published February 25, 2015

About the author

Geoffrey Blainey, one of Australia's most eminent historians, was appointed the foundation Chancellor of the University of Ballarat (UB) in 1993 after an illustrious career at the University of Melbourne. He was installed as UB Chancellor in December 1994 and continued until 1998. The Blainey Auditorium at the Mt Helen Campus of UB is named in his honour. Blainey, always a keen exponent of libraries and the acquisition of books, has donated part of his extensive book collection to the UB library. In 2002 the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters was conferred on Blainey in recognition of his contribution to the University of Ballarat and to the community in general.

Educated at Ballarat High School, Blainey won a scholarship to Wesley College, before attending Melbourne University where he studied history. He worked as a freelance historical author writing mainly business histories such as The Peaks of Lyall; Gold and Paper; a History of the National Bank of Australasia; and Mines in the Spinifex. Blainey accepted a position at the University of Melbourne in 1962 in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce. He held the positions of Professor of Economic History (1968-77); Senior Lecturer 1962; and from 1977-1988 he occupied the Ernest Scott Chair of History at Melbourne University. Professor Blainey also held the chair of Australian studies at Harvard University.

As an economic historian, Blainey challenged the conventional view, questioning accepted contemporary understandings of European settlement of Australia as a convict nation, Aboriginal land rights, and Asian immigration. He is described as a 'courageous public intellectual, a writer with rare grace and a master storyteller'. In a reassessment of the life of Blainey, 'The Fuss that Never Ended' considers his ideas, his role in Australian history, politics and public life, and the controversies that surrounded him.

He was always popular with students. According to the Melbourne University home page 'When Geoffrey Blainey spoke to final-year students in the Friends of the Baillieu Library HSC Lectures in the 1970s, the Public Lecture Theatre was packed to capacity and his audience carried copies of his books to be signed, a tribute to what Geoffrey Bolton characterised as his "skills in interpreting technological change in admirably lucid narratives that appealed to both specialist and non-specialist audiences".

Among his most popular works are the 'The Rush that Never Ended: A History of Australian Mining'; 'The Tyranny of Distance'; 'A Shorter History of Australia'; 'A Short History of the World'; and 'The Origins of Australian Football'.

In 2000 Professor Blainey was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for service to academia, research and scholarship, and as a leader of public debate at the forefront of fundamental social and economic issues confronting the wider community. At that time the University's Vice-Chancellor Professor Kerry Cox said 'Geoffrey Blainey guided the new and inexperienced university through its first four years with a benevolent but firm hand. This time was challenging as the university strove to make a place for itself in higher education, grappled with funding cuts and the eventual merger with neighbouring TAFE institutes. For those at the university fortunate enough to work with Geoffrey Blainey during his time as Chancellor, they witnessed first hand his humility, and we are proud of his role in our history.'

In 2002 the degree of Doctor of Letters was conferred on Professor Blainey in recognition of his contribution to the University of Ballarat and the community in general. The same year Blainey donated a collection of material to the University of Ballarat. Included in this collection are historical books, papers and other material relating to the early history of mining and the central Victorian goldfields. A second generous donation of material was received in 2005. 'The Geoffrey Blainey Mining Collection' is l

Reviews

[Alex Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid, informative, well written history book. So why 3 stars only? Hmmmmm. OK, a few reasons.

1) It felt like old news. It is essentially a revised version of his 70s book Triumph of the Nomads, and Blaney is refreshingly honest in admitting that history is always incomplete when it is not entirely wrong - and has updated his previous book based on a great deal of more current research and thinking. But it still feels a bit stale - and doesn't provide any seriously new or fresh perspectives to someone who has already read extensively on the subject. For someone knowing little about Aboriginal and early colonial history in Australia, it would be a great read and tremendously informative and even authoritative history. But I couldn't help feeling it was anchored in a mindset that was mostly informed by and in last century.

2) I mostly read it for the deep Aboriginal history - and unfortunately so much of that is just lost forever. I've recently read more about some of the exciting archaological work that has been done over the last 50 years, and am constantly fascinated by the incredible advances we are making globally at the moment in discovering the deep history of humanity, through sciences like genetics, incredible advances in archaeological techniques, etc - and frankly I'd hoped to see more of this lens applied to my understanding of Australia's history - but there was very little evidence of this kind of understanding being applied.

3) I did learn a lot about the minutia of Aboriginal life (and to some extent culture) and Blainey clearly has a deep understanding of his subject, and writes clearly and well, carefully leading the reader to understand his themes and conclusions, without coming across as a polemicist in any way. The book is also meticulously referenced and supported, with and extensive reference section at the back and not distracting the reader with footnotes, which I appreciated. So I have no issue whatsoever with Blainey's scholarship or accuracy, and I felt that (unlike some of the popular recent books on Aboriginal history) that it was credible, insofar as it went. But it really didn't feel like a holistic approach, and was very much the type of history I've grown up with - written by elderly western educated white male academics. I'm not sure what would satisfy me - Dark Emu certainly didn't - and maybe its not possible to recreate anything other that the shadows and remnant scratchings of the ancient Australians. But maybe it is a story that has to be told by Aboriginal historians? Actually I suspect they are still out there telling it to their own people - but I'm not sure I could understand it :-(

Anyway, highly recommended if you don't know much about Australia's deep past - you'll learn a huge amount, and its probably as accurate as you can get with a history. I need to read a little more widely around related subjects to find out what I want to understand.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blainey is often at his best when writing about Indigenous Australians, and this book is no exception. This is actually a combined rewrite of two of his great classics from many decades ago, Triumph of the Nomads and A Land Half Won, adding much from the last half-century of scholarship. I must admit I still find the original books more charming and readable, partly because, if we're honest, Blainey is a very old man now. There does seem to be a simplicity to his writing style these days, a greater tendency to anticipate what's to come in the following pages, and sometimes a repetitive manner as if Blainey wanted each sentence to stand alone in case it were used for a review.

But that's rather simplistic. This is a clear-headed and fascinating volume, helping to understand the complexities and nuances of Aboriginal life and the great tragedy of their downfall, without being needlessly romantic or unacademic, as certain other popular authors have been in the last decade.

[Felicity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whitewashed

How can a history book not bother to mention the Stolen Generation? And yes, I read both volumes (with growing contempt at many similar blind spots).

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that Professor Geoffrey Blainey went back to write as he felt that more information was now available on the aboriginal history of Australia. This is consistent with the views of so many historians in recent years as new information has emerged. As I have previously commented Blainey writes in an easy to read fluent style so this book is a delight for the reader. Aboriginal history and society is fascinating and up to recent times it had been largely ignored. I thoroughly recommend this book for any reader who wants to know more about pre-European history in Australia.

[Greg Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, absorbing, and even the author admits there are still huge gaps in our knowledge. An excellent attempt to bring ancient Australia to life.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, definitely going to re-read in maybe 10-20-30 years, many informations, not talked around stuff, just like you'd expect a good history book.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening, informative overview of Australian history up until 1850, extremely interesting.

[Andrew Deakin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing of the history of Australia's native inhabitants is not an easy task. Documentation is sparse, and the research is largely anthropological, bolstered by work in the social sciences and humanities

The most remarkable influence on the development of the first Australians was their complete isolation from other cultures and societies, until the arrival of the first British settlers in 1788.

The original inhabitants are thought to have arrived by land over 50,000 years ago, when New Guinea, Australia, and the Australian island of Tasmania were one land mass. The subsequent rising of the seas cut the first peoples off from any contact with other societies and civilizations.

Consequently, they remained a largely nomadic culture, while elsewhere people were able to trade, learn interactively, and began domesticating plants and animals, developing farming, building cities, and eventually establishing complex civilizations.

Life for the Australians remained brutally simple. They had fire, and some elementary tools, but most modestly advanced developments such as the wheel, and boiling water, were unknown.

A succinct summary of recent research on their culture, way of life, and interaction with the continent was published in 2015 by eminent Australian historian Geoffrey Blainey ('The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia'). Blainey relates their story from prehistoric arrival until 1850, when 60 years of settler activity had largely undermined their command of the continent.

Blainey recounts the current state of knowledge of the development of the continent and its people from the mega-fauna of 50,000 years ago, through the peak of the ice age about 20,000 years ago, to the relatively recent past, when recurrent droughts periodically threatened sustainable living, and the people learnt to tame the continent somewhat with a sophisticated use of large scale burn offs to hunt prey, and to keep the native growth recurrent and useful.

Not surprisingly, life was brutal. The constant need for food kept the people on the move, and a largely nomadic life essentially eliminated incentives to build anything more than the most primitive shelter. Hunting techniques were highly attuned to local nature, and the people developed a sophisticated gathering culture for the fruits and flora of the land. However, storage of food was insubstantial, and if an infant lost its mother, it was usually buried with the parent, given that other means of support were not available.

The culture of the first people was naturally unique to their location and circumstances. Creation myths, rock painting, and the spiritual animation of the land and its features were well developed, but the broad expanse of land, and its sparseness, meant that multiple subcultures developed, often with their own language, and wars frequently occurred between the various groups. The first British settlers reported that even groups on either side of what became known as Sydney Harbour spoke languages that were incomprehensible to each other.

The arrival of the British quickly depleted the incumbent population. Most losses were attributable to European diseases, as had occurred in the Americas, but frontier resistance was common, with the superior technology of the settlers generally prevailing. Resistance was substantially less than the better organized fighting capacity of the American natives, and, unlike New Zelaand, with its warlike and relatively recent Maori population, a formal Treaty was not needed to allow settler activity to continue (NZ settlers signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840). From an estimated peak of about 3 million, the current population of first people in Australia is now approximately 700,000.

Blainey's account published in 2015 is a substantial update of his earlier work on this matter. His book Land of the Nomads was printed in 1975, and his history of settler activity until 1900 (A Land Half Won) became available in 1980. The 2015 volume is a substantial revision in light of major new work by researchers, and he published a history of settlement from 1788 until 2010 in 2016 (The Story of Australia's People, Vol 11).

Blainey is (of course) an accomplished writer and historian, and has always been noted for his succinct, highly readable accounts. His talent for the evocative phrase has served him well. The 'tyranny of distance', coined in 1966 to describe the somewhat nervous sense of development and security in a settler society remote from its cultural origins and alliances in Britain and the United States, has entered the language more generally, as has the later 'black armband view of history', which he used in a 1993 lecture to describe the opinion of many left wing historians that settler Australia was, in their view, a racist, imperial disgrace (Marxist historian Humphrey McQueen's book to this effect, 'A New Britannia', c. 1970, comes to mind as an early expression of this development).

Blainey's status as a historian became especially controversial, when in the 1980s he criticized certain elements of multi-cultural expansion in Australia. The contretemps was sufficiently robust to force him to resign his university professorship.

His replacement, Stuart Macintyre, was a former Communist and historian of Marxism, and so, I am sure, much more palatable to the philosophical predilections of a large swathe of academics in the humanities faculties of Australian universities (Macintyre published a short history of Australia notorious for its bitter and propagandist account of the dismissal of the Whitlam government and the record of the subsequent Fraser government).

Not surprisingly, The Story of Australia's People:The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia was not well received by many local academic historians. Many would have preferred the indigenous/settler conflict to have been told largely from the indigenous side of the frontier (presumably to comply with the narratives of oppression and power imbalance favoured by adherents of critical race theory and its Marxist precedents).

Blainey was accused also by the same cultists of favouring a 'new world' perspective on Australia's subsequent development. Blainey's comments on more recent arrivals were deemed offensive (he noted in Vol 11 that many Muslim leaders of recent arrivals from the Middle East seemed to regret that Australian society 'defied their beliefs and preachings').

Blainey's book preceded the recent publication of a work by one of Australia's more extreme manipulators of indigenous history, which suggested there was historical evidence for indigenous settlements, farming, and food storage. That theory, now discredited, was put forward by someone of patently British stock who claimed partial indigenous heritage. That claim too has been disproven, and is recognized now as little more than an identitarian fantasy. The status of Blainey's work in this field has not been compromised by this recent excercise.

All that is part of the ongoing so-called 'culture wars.' Nevertheless, Blainey, now at the end of a long and distinguished career and life as an historian and commentator, has produced in The Story of Australia's People a substantial and beneficial contribution to the deepening appreciation of the remarkably long lived society of Australia's original inhabitants.

Further research of the various 'dreaming' expressions of native Australian cultures is likely to deepen and broaden the anthropological significance of these societies and their importance for global understanding and appreciation of the human quest for spiritual meaning, particularly given that the indigenous Australian culture is unique and the longest surviving and most sustained in history.

[Dr G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blainey has an attractively accessible writing style, making this account of Australia, from the time of aboriginal arrival to circa 1850, very readable.
Blainey bases his work on thorough research of other scholars and is unafraid to draw different conclusions from the orthodoxy. It is worth pointing out that this book shows considerable respect and regard for the aborigine, often overtly expressed.
The contentions which I found most interesting and stimulating were:
• There is an argument that the original migration into the continent was planned migration rather than the result of a hunting or fishing misadventure, since hunting or fishing expeditions would not have included women.
• There was very considerable inter-tribal warfare throughout the pre-European era, with a high mortality rate.
• Because of the primarily nomadic lifestyle, young children were an encumbrance and infanticide was practised if circumstances led to an impractical number of dependent children in a group.
• While the basic lifestyle was nomadic, small groups might stay for extended periods around a constant supply of a particular animal, fish or bird in a season.
• Women’s food-gathering of plant material was of more importance than men’s hunting.
• Burning of undergrowth was not controlled, usually being allowed to continue unabated once started.
• Oddly, there seems to have been little recourse by aborigines to preservation of food by smoking or salting.
• By the 1850s, the wealthiest 10% of European settlers had the best standard of living in the land but aborigines enjoyed a better standard of living than more than half the others.
• Transportation proved to be a much more expensive response to England’s convict issues than expected, but subsequent withdrawal was simply impractical.
• Although it was expected that the colony would be self-sufficient in food, remarkably little preparation was made for farming or gardening.
• The lack of sense of common purpose, or common language, between adjacent or nearby tribes meant that there was little opportunity for coordinated aboriginal resistance to European settlement.

[Clancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This should be required reading for anyone with an interest in Australia.

It shines a light on the first Australians, that counteracts the prevailing narrative of a primitive and uncivilised people. In its place it shows the unparalleled ingenuity and resilience needed to survive in such a harsh place. And it too, paints the picture of the cultures and customs, that were beyond European understanding.

It unflinchingly, too, catalogues the terrible decline that was brought about, both intentionally and incidentally, with the arrival of the invading, colonial force.

If you have any connection to this country, this this book will be an incredibly valuable resource and experience.

[Anika Tng · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book Review: A Misguided Interpretation of Australia’s History

The Story of Australia’s People is a deeply problematic and Eurocentric account, heavily whitewashed and lacking the necessary perspective and sensitivity to appropriately represent Australia’s true history. The author fails entirely to acknowledge the profound culture, achievements, and resilience of Aboriginal Australians, who have lived on and cared for this land for over 60,000 years. Rather than offering respect or insight, the narrative perpetuates outdated stereotypes and disregards Aboriginal people’s integral role in shaping the Australian landscape.

A particularly troubling instance is the author’s dismissal of Indigenous fire practices as accidental, quoting “in one large, hot region of Australia a reliable observer commented that in the course of two reasons he did not once see an Aboriginal man put out a fire” - “thus a fire lit…would be carelessly left alight”. Such a statement reveals a striking lack of understanding. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Aboriginal culture recognizes that fire management is a highly developed practice integral to land care—a sophisticated knowledge system now widely acknowledged by scientists and ecologists. Yet, the author suggests that these practices were negligent, furthering a patronizing and inaccurate portrayal that lacks historical basis.

In discussing Tasmania, the author omits any reference to the scientific exploitation and violence inflicted on Tasmanian Aboriginal people, choosing instead to focus on their supposed reluctance to “contribute” to evolutionary science, as though their resistance to colonial exploitation was an obstacle to scientific progress. This selective silence on atrocities suggests a disturbing lack of empathy or critical reflection on colonial harm.

Perhaps most unforgivable, this book was published after the release of Dark Emu, which presents compelling evidence of Aboriginal land management and farming practices. By ignoring recent research and perpetuating outdated myths of “primitive” culture, the author undermines any claim to academic rigor. His apparent failure to consult primary sources from early colonizers, who themselves documented Aboriginal farming practices, calls into question the credibility of his entire account.

The text even goes as far as to incorrectly elevate Lieutenant Cook to “Captain” when describing his “discovery” of Australia, perpetuating the glorification of colonial figures at the expense of historical accuracy. Such embellishment only deepens the sense of a narrative bent on preserving Eurocentric ideals rather than exploring the truth.

In sum, The Story of Australia’s People does a grave disservice to Aboriginal Australians and to any reader seeking a balanced understanding of the nation’s history. This book presents Aboriginal people as mere curiosities within a Eurocentric framework, reflecting an outdated colonial mindset that should have no place in contemporary historical scholarship. If your aim is to understand the true depth of Australian history, look elsewhere.

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rise and fall of ancient Australia.

This is the book about pre colonization Australia that I have been looking to read for a while. It is well researched and provides a dignified perspective on the traditional lifestyle of Australian Aboriginal peoples. I suspect it is not always the perspective that many today would like to hear, proposing that Indigenous Australians primarily lived a nomadic, subsistence existence where warfare and infanticide, amongst other things, limited population growth and life expectancy. While seemingly brutal by today's standards, Blainey is careful to point out that this lifestyle resulted from a. Australia's natural environment, climate and ecosystems were variable and harsh, despite the deep knowledge of its people to access food supplies and b. The indigenous lifestyle would have been largely more comfortable than the average European of the same period and c. The extreme isolation from other peoples and their ideas over the millennia of existence in Australia.

I doubt many Australians have heard this story, although judging others by myself is something my mother warned me against from a young age. Much of today's discourse concerns the recent history of stolen generations, poverty and imprisonment, rightly recognizing their role in the modern day difficulties of many aboriginal Australians. The colonial period is contested, some asserting Britain did the best they could, others insisting they stole the land, with either side tending to oversimplify the life lived prior to European arrival. Blainey will probably be critiqued by both sides for the via media he takes and in the end may be proven to be too soft. Importantly, however, he looks beyond this modern debate to describe the richness of aboriginal culture at the time of colonization. Rather than emphasizing what we don't know and have lost, he outlines what we do know, which may be incomplete but is still significant. I can only hope that our school curricula can be similarly enriched with this knowledge so that tomorrow's kids can be informed, inspired (and sobered) by it, and in some cases can go on to deepen this knowledge further through science, linguistics or other skills.

Overall, I took away a stronger appreciation for Australia's First Nations, both for the intelligence and grit of their original lifestyle, and for the resilience shown in enduring the tragedy experienced since colonization. Early on, the view was that they were a dying race, and indeed much has been irrevocably lost. But having survived, indigenous voices are being heard and positively influencing many Australians to recognize the significance of their culture, in many cases arguing with an optimistic activism which transcends mere protest. Blainey himself doesn't believe his words will be the final 'verdict' but I do think they make a positive contribution to a story which all Australians should know and take inspiration from.

[Lee McKerracher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially Geoffrey Blainey had written two books - Triumph of the Nomads and A Land Half Won to describe the discovery and development of Australia.

In his own words, in the years following their publication, he read his works with "astonishment and dismay". The history of our country does not start in 1788, it starts thousands of years beforehand and Blainey has attempted to redress his earlier works and provide a more detailed and extensive account of Australia.

This first volume is a fascinating read and covers the impact the invasion had on our First Nations Peoples but also how they fought back and also fought with each other - there was violence on all sides. The British had no concept of indigenous life and how to reconcile their practices with what the British regarded as civilised.

As the colony developed there were many influences - convict labour, free and assisted immigration, the location of the settlements, interactions between the colonisers and the Indigenous people, climate and the introduction of sheep and cattle grazing which had a huge impact on the nation.

I am keen to read Volume II in the series.

[Rick Ecclesiastes 12:12 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conflicted.
Very accessible. Engagingly written. Only 3 stars?

1. I found the first half of the book filled with “It seems”, “Proposed…”, “Presumably…”, “Perhaps…”, “Probably…”, “Possibly…”, “Maybe…”. And I just didn’t know what to make of it. As I read I was thinking, “so, possibly not?”, “perhaps not?”. I finished the first half and questioned whether or not to take it too seriously.

2. Blainey persists in using the language of ‘invasion’ for the settlements/colonies. At one point even the sheep and cattle are said to be invaders. It impugns deliberate motives of conquest that are just absent in primary sources (especially for the sheep and cattle). Late in the book he used better language of “confused & hazardous settlement”.

3. There are no footnotes, and I found it really hard to identify the sources from the end notes. And forget about distinguishing what information is drawn from primary sources rather than secondary sources. This was most frustrating when it came to information I have some knowledge of, I just couldn’t work out where some of the information from!

Anyway, still a good casual read.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absorbing, lengthy and generally admiring account of the continent and its first peoples, followed by their tragic collision with the invading British, a seemingly half hearted invasion force who early in the pièce thought of abandoning the place. Blainey offers a balanced assessment based on the best available evidence, often making clear those areas where there exists a range of views. Beautifully written and measured in tone and assessments. Should be read, in delight, by all Australians.

[Mr_wormwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, although yes he does over emphasize the amount of (as well as the nature of?) warfare between aboriginal tribes. I never realized that this was the guy that began the 'black armband view' of Australian history and the subsequent Australian History Wars.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Geoffrey Blainey's approach to history, how he melds different seemingly unrelated events into a single narrative and how he makes the obscure explainable. This book is no different and was a delight to read, from the start to the finish.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a difficult one because parts of it were fascinating, but it didn't really deliver what i was looking for. That's probably more my fault than the author's. I did learn a lot though, and am tempted to add the second book to my reading list

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic read. Filled with a host of information about early Australia and Aboriginal history. It painted a story as well as delivering facts and timelines of events. A great book, exceptionally written.

[David Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating account of pre-colonial Australia makes it clear aboriginal civilization was complex, creative and supremely well-adapted to the environment.

[Oscar Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blainey’s expertise shines in a wonderfully collated book that provides a deep, objective, revealing, and well-researched insight into Australia’s Indigenous and early colonial history.

[Russ Clapham · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly important book for its record of the first people of the continent and the unbridled picture that many of us knew had to be true: that the first people were much like others in their murderous, warring ways. There's danger in Blainey's calculations across all of their time and geographical spread, but at the least the book gives a view on a people as flawed as their conquerors. And it's a truth that should be read and known.