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Review of The Colony
The Colony. A History of Early Sydney by Grace Karskens is impeccably and extensively researched, well-written and challenges some of Australia’s more pervasive myths, such as the “damned whores” of the First Fleet and the “fading away” of the Indigenous owners of the lands that became Sydney. Restoring the agency of people such as Bennelong…
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Australiana and Family
Dad gave up farming before I was born, but back in the ’30s this was the family farm. I think my great-granddad built it. He was a joiner/builder by trade. You can’t always trust my Dad’s memory — well, you can trust it to be wrong, but on the off chance he’s right — the…
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Australian Federation
I blame the Americans. No, not really, but… there is an American connection to Australia’s emergence as a nation. You see, back in the eighteenth century America said to Britain, “Enough! No more of your freakin’ convicts.” Now, since Britain had a plentiful supply of convicts, that presented its government with a serious issue. Of…