The Gulf Country

Book Description:

The story of the resilient people who make their home in Australia's far north, from the 'wild time' of the frontier days to the present.

'There is something about the Gulf Country that seems to become part of you.'

With its great rivers, grassy plains, and mangrove-fringed coastline, Queensland's remote gulf country is rich and fertile land. It has long been home to Aboriginal people, and since 1865, also to Europeans and to settlers with Chinese, Japanese and Afghan ancestry.

Richard Martin tells the story of a century and a half of exploration and colonisation, the growth of pastoral and mining industries, and the impact of Christian missionaries and two world wars, through to the present day. He recounts the brutal realities of violence and dispossession, as well as the contributions of hard work and entrepreneurialism across the decades.

Drawing on his extensive interviews with people across the Gulf community, this is a lively and colourful account of tight knit communities, changing relationships to land, and resilience in the face of adversity.

About the Author

Richard J. Martin is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland. He has been researching the history of the remote Gulf Country of northern Australia for a decade, including research with Indigenous people on native title claims and cultural heritage matters.

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