Review
'. . . [a] splendid account of Mitchell's contacts with Aboriginal Australians.' - -- Rick Giddings, The Saturday Mercury
'This book is largely untarnished by a "black armband" interpretation of Australian history. It is an enthralling account of a very civilised man and the worthy, if different, people he encountered.' - -- Rick Giddings, The Saturday Mercury
'This book is largely untarnished by a "black armband" interpretation of Australian history. It is an enthralling account of a very civilised man and the worthy, if different, people he encountered.' - -- Rick Giddings, The Saturday Mercury
Product Description
Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor General of New South Wales, made four journeys of exploration at a time when white squatters were poised to extend their runs over eastern Australia, dispossessing untold thousands of Aboriginal families of their land in a monstrous and incomprehensible disaster.
D. W. A. Baker shows us that Mitchell's attitude towards the Aboriginal people he encountered was ambiguous, even contradictory. Trust and admiration vied with fear, even disgust. He co-operated with them and he killed them. The Civilised Surveyor is a seductive blend of scrupulous history and spare, elegant storytelling, ever alert to irony.
