Killing for Country: A Family Story, Black Inc., Melbourne, 2023; available electronically
A gripping reckoning with the bloody history of Australia’s frontier wars. David Marr was shocked to discover forebears who served with the brutal Native Police in the bloodiest years on the frontier. Killing for Country is the result – a soul-searching Australian history. This is a richly detailed saga of politics and power in the colonial world – of land seized, fortunes made and lost, and the violence let loose as squatters and their allies fought for possession of the country – a war still unresolved in today’s Australia. (blurb)
The book is reviewed for Honest History by Peter Stanley. Other reviews: Frank Bongiorno in the Sydney Morning Herald; Peter Rodgers on Pearls and Irritations; Mark McKenna in Australian Book Review; Peter Craven in Eureka Street; Larissa Behrendt on Inside Story; Jonathan Richards in Australian Policy and History. Michael McKernan in Libraries ACT. The author and Jasper Lindell in the Canberra Times. Henry Reynolds in Pearls and Irritations on how the book gives the lie to claims (during Voice lead-up) that First Nations people have done pretty well since colonisation. Queensland Historical Atlas maps on the pastoral expansion of Queensland. Australian Book Review podcast with author, Mark McKenna and Georgina Arnott. The Monthly/Spotify podcast with the author. Also: the author and Marcia Langton on the ABC’s Big Ideas; the author’s Webinar for The Australia Institute. The author reported by AAP, April 2024.
