Description
Clarke brings a historians erudition to the ideas Absolutely engrossing and its beautifully written KATE GRENVILLE
A few years ago Anna Clark saw a series of paintings on a sandstone cliff face in the Northern Territory There were characteristic crosshatched images of fat barramundi and turtles as well as sprayed handprints and several human figures with spears Next to them was a long gun painted with white ochre an unmistakable image of the colonisers Was this an Indigenous rendering of contact A work of history
Each piece of history has a message and context that depends on who wrote it and when Australian history has swirled and contorted over the years the history wars have embroiled historians politicians and public commentators alike while debates over historical fiction have been as divisive History isnt just about understanding what happened and why It also reflects the persuasions politics and prejudices of its authors Each iteration of Australias national story reveals not only the past in question but also the guiding concerns and perceptions of each generation of history makers
Making Australian History is bold and inclusive it catalogues and contextualises changing readings of the past it examines the increasingly problematic role of historians as national storytellers and it incorporates the stories of people
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