Van Diemen's Land was the name originally given to the island known today as Tasmania, Australia, and it was settled by the British in 1803 as a penal colony. Before writing this history of the island, the author, Henry Saxelby Melville (1799-1873), a journalist, was imprisoned in 1835 for contempt of court over an article he wrote about an ongoing trial. While experiencing the prison system at first hand, he completed this work, which examines the history of Van Diemen's Land, focusing on the period from 1824 to 1835, and offers harsh criticism of the colonial administration and penal reforms enacted by lieutenant-governor Colonel George Arthur (1784-1854). Melville also includes an essay of his views on the island's system of prison discipline. He initially had the book printed on the island, but later smuggled copies to London where it could be freely published and read.

This captivating work charts the history of Tasmania from the arrival of European maritime expeditions in the late eighteenth century, through to the modern day. By presenting the perspectives of both Indigenous Tasmanians and British settlers, author Henry Reynolds provides an original and engaging exploration of these first fraught encounters. Utilising key themes to bind his narrative, Reynolds explores how geography created a unique economic and migratory history for Tasmania, quite separate from the mainland experience. He offers an astute analysis of the island's economic and demographic reality, by noting that this facilitated the survival of a rich heritage of colonial architecture unique in Australia, and allowed the resident population to foster a powerful web of kinship. Reynolds' remarkable capacity to empathise with the characters of his chronicle makes this a powerful, engaging and moving account of Tasmania's unique position within Australian history.

Throughout history, gold has been the stuff of legends, fortunes, conflict and change. The discovery of gold in Australia 150 years ago precipitated enormous developments in the newly settled land. Immigrants flooded in from Asia and Europe, and the population and economy boomed in spontaneous cities. The effects on both the environment and indigenous Aboriginal peoples have been profound and lasting. In the most unexpected ways, gold has shaped modern Australia. In this book, a team of Australia's most prominent historians and curators have collaborated to produce a cultural history of gold and its impact on the development of Australian society. Like a handful of tailings, Gold brings together a collection of stories that have been left out of standard Australian histories. In between runs a critical analysis of the relationship between gold and social change, race relations, gender, the environment, entertainment and industry.

A pioneering Australian reference work, this dictionary was published in 1879 by John Henniker Heaton (1848-1914), who in his youth spent twenty years as a journalist in Australia before returning to England and campaigning in Parliament for postal reform. Published amid a bitter dispute with the government printer, it is still acknowledged to contain much useful information despite some inaccuracies. The first part, 'Men of the Time', focuses on notable men and women with Australian connections, from 1542 to the date of publication, including explorers, governors, leading colonists, writers and scientists. The second part, 'The Australian Dictionary of Dates', provides an alphabetical listing of the most remarkable Australian historical events and topics, from Aboriginal cricketers to the Zig Zag railway line, particularly noting political and legal landmarks. Heaton's book is an important document of Victorian colonial historiography and a valuable resource for the history of European settlement in Australia.

'Luca Antara is a book-lover's book, a graceful and mesmerizing blend of history, autobiography, travel and romance.' - JM Coetzee Part memoir, travelogue, history and part detective story, Luca Antara is a rich tapestry of history and the present. It parallels the life of the author, an emigre to Sydney, and the life of an historical figure, Antonio da Nova, the servant of a Portuguese explorer who in the 1600s sends him to find out more about Luca Antara (now Australia). New to Sydney, Martin Edmond finds himself impoverished and displaced. He earns money as a taxi driver but spends his spare time frequenting second hand bookshops trying to learn more about the history of Australia and the wider region. The people Edmond encounters in his taxi and in his search for rare books are varied and strange, offering the reader a voyeuristic glimpse into Sydney's sub-culture. Sent to discover more about Luca Antara, Antonio da Nova's crew mutiny and dump him on the West Australian coast. He is found by Aborigines, who take him on an epic walk across northern Australia. Eventually he manages to return to his master in Portugal who awaits news of his explorations. Edmond's reading centres upon da Nova, but each book he reads leads to another and the subject becomes broader and increasingly fascinating. The lives of the two men and the strange customs and unique social mores of each man's culture and time intertwine throughout the book, ending with Edmond literally walking in the footsteps of da Nova across northern Australia.

John Lort Stokes (1812-85) was a naval officer on board H.M.S. Beagle - the same ship that had carried naturalist Charles Darwin around the world in 1831-6. Stokes served on that expedition and on the following commission, which was a survey of Australia in which the crew was charged with discovering more about the largely unknown land mass. The expedition set off in 1837 and Stokes did not return to England until 1843 - after 18 years of service on the Beagle - when he began work on this two-volume account of the voyage, which was published in 1846. This work provides a detailed narrative of the journey, including interaction with indigenous peoples and observations about the natural world in Australia, making it an important source about the early years of the European colony. Volume 1 covers Stokes' time exploring north-west Australia and includes illustrations of plants, insects, and reptiles.

John Lort Stokes (1812-85) was a naval officer on board H.M.S. Beagle - the same ship that had carried naturalist Charles Darwin around the world in 1831-6. Stokes served on that expedition and on the following commission, which was a survey of Australia in which the crew was charged with discovering more about the largely unknown land mass. The expedition set off in 1837 and Stokes did not return to England until 1843 - after 18 years of service on the Beagle - when he began work on this two-volume account of the voyage, which was published in 1846. This work provides a detailed narrative of the journey, including interaction with indigenous peoples and observations about the natural world in Australia, making it an important source about the early years of the European colony. Volume 2 sees the expedition explore the Victoria River, and later venture north into the Indonesian archipelago.

This book engages a complex subject that mainline theologies avoid, Indigenous Australia. The heritages, wisdoms and dreams of Indigenous Australians are tormented by the discriminating mindsets and colonialist practices of non-Indigenous peoples. This book gives special attention to the torments due to the arrival and development of the church.

This study treats the Victorian Antipodes as a compelling site of romance and satire for middle-class writers who went to New Zealand between 1840 and 1872. Blythe's research fits with the rising study of settler colonialism and highlights the intersection of late-Victorian ideas and post-colonial theories.

Written by the adventurous and widely travelled Lady Mary Anne Barker (1831 1911), this 1870 publication records 'the expeditions, adventures, and emergencies diversifying the daily life of the wife of a New Zealand sheep farmer'. Born in Jamaica and educated in England and France, Barker married her second husband in 1865 and spent the next three years living on his sheep station on the South Island. This book is based on letters written to Barker's younger sister, beginning with an account of her two-month voyage to Melbourne and her onward journey via Nelson and Wellington to Christchurch. Barker vividly describes her domestic surroundings, friends, neighbours, servants, her first (and last) experience of camping, the Canterbury landscape and vegetation, and the 7,000 sheep on the farm. Her enthusiastic personal account of Victorian colonial expansion captures the 'delight and freedom of an existence so far from our own highly-wrought civilization'.

The prolific writer William Howitt (1792 1879) embarked for Australia in 1852 and spent two years there travelling and panning for gold. His experiences resulted in several books that appealed to the Victorian public's avid interest in Antipodean exploration. Published in 1865, when New Zealand had only been recognised as a country for a generation, this two-volume work describes 'scenes of danger and of wild romance, of heroic daring and devoted deaths, such as few countries have to show'. It gives a valuable account of early European exploration and settlement in Australia and New Zealand as well as insights into European travellers' responses to this previously unknown continent. Volume 1 covers the early voyages of discovery to the Antipodes made by explorers including Abel Tasman and Captain Cook, and later expeditions up to the 1840s, including Fitzroy and Darwin's voyage around Australia and New Zealand aboard the Beagle.

The prolific writer William Howitt (1792 1879) embarked for Australia in 1852 and spent two years there travelling and panning for gold. His experiences resulted in several books that appealed to the Victorian public's avid interest in Antipodean exploration. Published in 1865, when New Zealand had only been recognised as a country for a generation, this two-volume work describes 'scenes of danger and of wild romance, of heroic daring and devoted deaths, such as few countries have to show'. It gives a valuable account of early European exploration and settlement in Australia and New Zealand as well as insights into European travellers' responses to this previously unknown continent. Volume 2 begins in the mid-1840s, and focuses on the 1861 disappearance in Australia of Burke and Wills, the expeditions searching for them (including one led by Howitt's son), and visits to New Zealand by explorers including Charles Heaphy and Julius Haast.

Joseph Beete Jukes (1811-1869) was a geologist who studied at St John's College, Cambridge under Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) and, after many field expeditions in England, was appointed to a survey of Newfoundland in 1839. In 1841 he joined the H.M.S. Fly as a naturalist for an upcoming expedition to chart the coasts of Australia and New Guinea. He also made some inland investigations on Java before returning to England in 1846. The following year he published this two-volume account of his journey. Blackwood's Magazine described Jukes' work as 'scientific without being abstruse, and picturesque without being extravagant, [Jukes] has made his volumes a striking and graceful addition to our knowledge of countries highly interesting in themselves'. Volume 1 describes Jukes' voyage up the coast of North Queensland, his observations of the Barrier Reef, his exploration of the Torres Strait, and his arrival in the Sunda Islands.

Joseph Beete Jukes (1811-1869) was a geologist who studied at St John's College, Cambridge under Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) and, after many field expeditions in England, was appointed to a survey of Newfoundland in 1839. In 1841 he joined the H.M.S. Fly as a naturalist for an upcoming expedition to chart the coasts of Australia and New Guinea. He also made some inland investigations on Java before returning to England in 1846. The following year he published this two-volume account of his journey. Blackwood's Magazine described Jukes' work as 'scientific without being abstruse, and picturesque without being extravagant, [Jukes] has made his volumes a striking and graceful addition to our knowledge of countries highly interesting in themselves'. Volume 2 focuses mainly on Java, where Jukes visited sugar and coffee plantations and industrial sites. The appendixes contain vocabulary lists for several indigenous languages, and notes on marine life and snakes.

William Pember Reeves' scholarly work of 1902 provides a full and candid account of radical and experimental laws in Australia and New Zealand. From the Anti-Chinese Acts of 1881 to the adoption of the women's franchise by the Commonwealth Parliament in Australia in 1902, the two volumes survey all noteworthy laws and statutes, addressing colonial questions of the time. Well-known for his history of New Zealand, The Long White Cloud (1898), the statesman Reeves (1857 1932) draws attention to admitted defects or failures in the laws without imposing his personal political views on the reader. Volume 1 sets out the historical background of Australasia, and covers such areas as the Progressive Movement, the women's franchise and issues concerning land laws. Overall, the two volumes represent an important record of the many reforms and changes occurring in the political and social systems of the continent at this time.

William Pember Reeves' scholarly work of 1902 provides a full and candid account of radical and experimental laws in Australia and New Zealand. From the Anti-Chinese Acts of 1881 to the adoption of the women's franchise by the Commonwealth Parliament in Australia in 1902, the two volumes survey all noteworthy laws and statutes, addressing colonial questions of the time. Well-known for his history of New Zealand, The Long White Cloud (1898), the statesman Reeves (1857 1932) draws attention to admitted defects or failures in the laws without imposing his personal political views on the reader. Volume 2 covers areas including labour and factory laws, pensions, liquor and licensing laws and immigration issues. Overall, the two volumes represent an important record of the many reforms and changes occurring in the political and social systems of Australasia at this time.

Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792 1855) was an acclaimed surveyor and explorer of Australia. After attending the University of Edinburgh Mitchell joined the British Army in 1811. He took part in major battles of the Peninsular War and difficult military surveys in the Pyrenees. In 1827 he was appointed Deputy Surveyor of New South Wales, and he became Surveyor General in 1828. This fascinating two-volume work, first published in 1838, contains Mitchell's illustrated account of his three expeditions into the then unexplored interior of modern eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales between 1831 and 1836, for which he received a knighthood in 1839. Drawing on Mitchell's personal journals, Volume 1 describes in vivid detail the difficulties and dangers of exploring the Kindur and Gwydir rivers, and provides valuable first-hand descriptions of the lives and society of the indigenous Australians his expedition encountered.

Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792 1855) was an acclaimed surveyor and explorer of Australia. After attending the University of Edinburgh Mitchell joined the British Army in 1811. He took part in major battles of the Peninsular War and difficult military surveys in the Pyrenees. In 1827 he was appointed Deputy Surveyor of New South Wales, and he became Surveyor General in 1828. This fascinating two-volume work, first published in 1838, contains Mitchell's illustrated account of his three expeditions into the then unexplored interior of modern eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales between 1831 and 1836, for which he received a knighthood in 1839. Drawing on Mitchell's personal journals, Volume 2 describes in vivid detail the difficulties and dangers of exploring the Murray Darling river systems, and provides valuable first-hand descriptions of the lives and society of the indigenous Australians his expedition encountered.

Best-known for the scandalous circumstances surrounding his suicide in 1893, Francis Adams (1862 1893) enjoyed a reputation as a proficient, if unpredictable, writer producing a large volume of work in his relatively short life. Adams moved to Australia in the early 1880s, remaining there for several years. Finding the news of Australia in England 'inept', Adams wrote from a desire to educate the English public properly on the Australian people. His work, published in 1893, is divided into two parts. The first describes the geography, culture and society of the 'Pacific slope', the ribbon of settlements along the east coast of Australia. The second half, focused on the eastern interior, deals with the more controversial issues of land ownership and the Aboriginal population in the rural areas in the country. Much of the book draws on Adams' series of articles on Australian life, previously published in the Fortnightly Review.

Sir Timothy Coghlan (1855 1926) was the statistician for New South Wales from 1886. He produced the world's first example of national financial accounts, and is regarded as Australia's first 'mandarin'. His advice was sought by state and federal governments on matters as diverse as tax, public sanitation and infant mortality. In 1905 he took up an appointment as a New South Wales government agent in London, remaining there for the rest of his life. First published in 1918, this monumental book is Coghlan's very personal history of Australia, embracing materials, population growth, trade and land. Population growth and its importance for economic prosperity had always interested Coghlan. In Volume 1, he emphasizes the initial difficulties presented to economic growth by a population consisting mostly of convicts. With many statistical data, he also explores early immigration, trade, land distribution and attempts at agriculture.

Sir Timothy Coghlan (1855 1926) was the statistician for New South Wales from 1886. He produced the world's first example of national financial accounts, and is regarded as Australia's first 'mandarin'. His advice was sought by state and federal governments on matters as diverse as tax, public sanitation and infant mortality. In 1905 he took up an appointment as a New South Wales government agent in London, remaining there for the rest of his life. First published in 1918, this monumental book is Coghlan's very personal history of Australia, embracing materials, population growth, trade and land. In Volume 2, covering the period to the late 1860s, Coghlan again highlights population growth, and in particular the role of the state and colonies in organizing immigration, as a key factor in the development of the economy. A theme throughout this volume is the growing independence and confidence of each individual state.

Sir Timothy Coghlan (1855 1926) was the statistician for New South Wales from 1886. He produced the world's first example of national financial accounts, and is regarded as Australia's first 'mandarin'. His advice was sought by state and federal governments on matters as diverse as tax, public sanitation and infant mortality. In 1905 he took up an appointment as a New South Wales government agent in London, remaining there for the rest of his life. First published in 1918, this monumental book is Coghlan's very personal history of Australia, embracing materials, population growth, trade and land. Volume 3 covers a turbulent period. Coghlan examines the depression of the 1890s and the banking crisis of 1893, which saw the Federal Bank fail. He also devotes a large section to detailing labour and wages in this period, which saw the unprecedented Maritime Strike of 1890.

Sir Timothy Coghlan (1855 1926) was the statistician for New South Wales from 1886, and is regarded as Australia's first 'Mandarin'. His advice was sought by state and federal governments on matters as diverse as tax, public sanitation and infant mortality. In 1905 he took up an appointment as New South Wales government agent in London, remaining there for the rest of his life. First published in 1903, this was one of the first comprehensive histories of Australia, and it benefits greatly from the author's extensive hard statistical data. In contrast to his later Labour and Industry (also reissued in this series), Coghlan and his co-author, T. T. Ewing (1856 1920), discuss the politics behind progress as much as the economics. Charting the country's development from penal colony to urbanised democracy, they conclude with a wealth of statistical data to endorse the assertion that 'the possibilities for Australia's future are tremendous'.

The first prominent advocate of Australian republicanism, Scottish-born John Dunmore Lang (1799-1878) is an important figure in the history of his adopted country. This two-volume work, originally published in 1834, presents a series of chapters illustrating Australia's history and its condition in his own time. Written during a voyage from New South Wales to Britain in 1833, the book promotes what Lang deems to be the best interests of the New South Wales colony, by encouraging the emigration 'of reputable families and individuals to its territory'. Volume 1 sets out the historical background and discovery of the coastal areas, leading to the establishment of the New South Wales British colony, and presents accounts of its condition and progress under various governments. The reader will be mindful of Lang's aim in writing the work - to tell the truth 'fully and fearlessly' in order to secure Australia's general welfare and advancement.

The first prominent advocate of Australian republicanism, Scottish-born John Dunmore Lang (1799-1878) is an important figure in the history of his adopted country. This two-volume work, originally published in 1834, presents a series of chapters illustrating Australia's history and its condition in his own time. Written during a voyage from New South Wales to Britain in 1833, the book promotes what Lang deems to be the best interests of the New South Wales colony, by encouraging the emigration 'of reputable families and individuals to its territory'. Volume 2 investigates the distribution and character of the convict population and stresses the advantages of New South Wales to emigrants, finishing with an analysis of the practicalities of emigration and settling in Australia. The reader will be mindful of Lang's aim in writing the work - to tell the truth 'fully and fearlessly' in order to secure Australia's general welfare and advancement.