Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture

Author:   Bruce Pascoe
Publisher:   Scribe US
ISBN:  

9781947534087


Pages:   288
Publication Date:   15 May 2018
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
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Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture


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Overview

Contradicts the conventional wisdom that native peoples were primitive hunter-gatherers History has portrayed Australia's First Peoples, the Aboriginals, as hunter-gatherers who lived on an empty, uncultivated land. History is wrong. In this seminal book, Bruce Pascoe uncovers evidence that long before the arrival of white men, Aboriginal people across the continent were building dams and wells; planting, irrigating, and harvesting seeds, and then preserving the surplus and storing it in houses, sheds, or secure vessels; and creating elaborate cemeteries and manipulating the landscape. All of these behaviors were inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag, which turns out have been a convenient lie that worked to justify dispossession. Using compelling evidence from the records and diaries of early Australian explorers and colonists, he reveals that Aboriginal systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia's past is required--for the benefit of all Australians. Dark Emu, a bestseller in Australia, won both the Book of the Year Award and the Indigenous Writer's Prize in the 2016 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.

Full Product Details

Author:   Bruce Pascoe
Publisher:   Scribe US
Imprint:   Scribe US
Dimensions:   Width: 13.50cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 20.80cm
Weight:   0.295kg
ISBN:  

9781947534087


ISBN 10:   1947534084
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   15 May 2018
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

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Reviews

'[A]n important book that advances a powerful argument for re-evaluating the sophistication of Aboriginal peoples' economic and socio-political livelihoods, and calls for Australia to embrace the complexity, sophistication and innovative skills of Indigenous people into its concept of itself as a nation.' --Aboriginal History The truth-telling must go on. --Stephen Fitzpatrick Unputdownable. --Darina Allen Irish Examiner [A] brisk and lucidly written account...This is an important and deeply researched reinterpretation of Australian history and a stark warning about the danger of accepting received wisdom at face value. --Publishers Weekly


Unputdownable. --Darina Allen Irish Examiner


'[A]n important book that advances a powerful argument for re-evaluating the sophistication of Aboriginal peoples' economic and socio-political livelihoods, and calls for Australia to embrace the complexity, sophistication and innovative skills of Indigenous people into its concept of itself as a nation.' --Aboriginal History Unputdownable. --Darina Allen Irish Examiner The truth-telling must go on. --Stephen Fitzpatrick [A] brisk and lucidly written account...This is an important and deeply researched reinterpretation of Australian history and a stark warning about the danger of accepting received wisdom at face value. --Publishers Weekly


Australia's education system tended to emphasize the struggle and pluck of settlers. Dark Emu shifted the gaze, pointing to peaceful towns and well-tended land devastated by European aggression and cattle grazing. In a nation of 25 million people, the book has sold more than 260,000 copies. --Damien Cave, New York Times [A] brisk and lucidly written account...This is an important and deeply researched reinterpretation of Australian history and a stark warning about the danger of accepting received wisdom at face value. STARRED REVIEW --Publishers Weekly Unputdownable. --Darina Allen, Irish Examiner The truth-telling must go on. --Stephen Fitzpatrick, The Australian [A]n important book that advances a powerful argument for re-evaluating the sophistication of Aboriginal peoples' economic and socio-political livelihoods, and calls for Australia to embrace the complexity, sophistication and innovative skills of Indigenous people into its concept of itself as a nation. --Aboriginal History


Author Information

Bruce Pascoe lives in Australia and has a Bunurong, Tasmanian, and Yuin heritage. Dark Emu won both the Book of the Year Award and the Indigenous Writer's Prize in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. Bruce is currently working on two films for ABC TV and a novel.

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