The Methodists tells the story of Methodism in New South Wales from the establishment of the first class meetings in the colony until the inauguration of the Uniting Church in 1977.No mere chronicle of events, it seeks to interpret the broad sweep of Methodist history in the state and to understand the place of the church in Australian society. Who were the Methodists? Why did Methodism find it so hard to establish itself in the early years of the Colony? Why was it able t...

In the South Seas written by Robert Louis Stevenson who was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, musician and travel writer. This book was published in 1896. And now republish in ebook format. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the...

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Comes with an Active Table of Contents.    This history is full of vivid details of the hard life of the first explorers and pioneers.    It covers the period from 1600 to 1901. It has all the makings of an adventure story with epic shipping voyages, politics, starvation, searches for water and minerals, convicts, and hard work.  In most countries, the story of the European settlers creating villages...

In January of 1788 the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales and a thousand British men and women encountered the people who will be their new neighbours; the beach nomads of Australia. "These people mixed with ours," wrote a British observer soon after the landfall, "and all hands danced together." What followed would determine relations between the peoples for the next two hundred years.Drawing skilfully on first-hand accounts and historical records, Inga Clendinnen reconstructs...

Originally published in 1928, this book is a comprehensive study of the Maori people and their inner lives, customs and beliefs, written by one who lived amongst them during a time before modern western civilisation had much altered their existence. This book is a fascinating read, and is highly recommended for inclusion on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in other cultures and societies. Many of these earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now ...

An omnibus from Jim Haynes about the true essence of what makes us Australians - our yarns, collected from every walk of life.Best Australian Yarns is a substantial and definitive collection of factual and fanciful Aussie stories, humour and anecdotes--the result of decades of researching popular Aussie culture and history and yarning to mates and other colourful characters from all parts of Australia and all walks of life.This collection includes ...

Sven Lindqvist is one of our most original writers on race, colonialism, and genocide, and his signature approach—uniting travelogues with powerful acts of historical excavation—renders his books devastating and unforgettable.Now, for the first time, Lindqvist's most beloved works are available in one beautiful and affordable volume with a new introduction by Adam Hochschild. The Dead Do Not Die includes the full unabridged text of "Exterminate All the Brutes", ca...

This book traces Maori engagement with handwriting from 1769 to 1826. Through beautifully reproduced written documents, it describes the first encounters Maori had with paper and writing and the first relationships between Maori and Europeans in the earliest school. The book tells an image-led story about the earliest relationships between Maori and Pakeha based around the written word and sheds light on a larger story of the first attempts of Maori and Europeans to live together in the ea...

A gripping account of the worst disasters to hit Australia since FederationFrom bushfires to cyclones; sinking ships; train and plane crashes; mine explosions and bridge collapses; the Port Arthur massacre and the Bali bombings; Australia has suffered numerous terrible tragedies.Bestselling author and historian Dr Jonathan King recounts the most extreme disasters to have hit Australia, opening each account with stories of the victims who died or whose lives were irrevocably...

Our present welfare state has little good reason to survive much longer, and we will have to find a new basis for its continued existence.’ So writes David Thomson as he offers an unflinching perspective on how different generations have fared under the social welfare policies of governments since the 1930s.Selfish Generations? is a critical and unsentimental analysis of a key political issue, and the questions it raises about support for the young and old, and about health, education and ...

The Land Is Our History tells the story of indigenous legal activism at a critical political and cultural juncture in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. In the late 1960s, indigenous activists protested assimilation policies and the usurpation of their lands as a new mining boom took off, radically threatening their collective identities. Often excluded from legal recourse in the past, indigenous leaders took their claims to court with remarkable results. For the first time, thei...

‘Angus & Robertson and the British Trade in Australian Books, 1930–1970’ traces the history of the printed book in Australia, particularly the production and business context that mediated Australia’s literary and cultural ties to Britain for much of the twentieth century. This study focuses on the London operations of one of Australia’s premier book publishers of the twentieth century: Angus & Robertson. The book argues that despite the obvious limitations of a British-dominated market, A...