Trouble: On Trial in Central Australia

Violence, often fatal, is at the heart of these stories, yet go into any courthouse and you will find examples of the same. If they demand attention here, it is in part because of their prevalence. The Northern Territory has the worst homicide rate in the country.

On the streets of Alice Springs, in town camps, drinking camps, and out on the highway, in gatherings awash with alcohol, men kill one another in seemingly senseless acts of aggression and revenge. Men kill their wives, families feud, women join the fighting and, in the wings, children watch and learn.

From the ordered environment of the courtroom, Trouble: On Trial in Central Australia lays out in detail some of this deep disorder in the town's recent history. Drawing on her decades as a journalist in Central Australia, as well as experience of its everyday life, Kieran Finnane recognises a story beyond the horror and tragedy of the events, the guilt or innocence of perpetrators, to witness a town and region being painfully remade.

In this groundbreaking book, we hear the voices from Australia's troubled heart and gain a unique insight into the challenges and potential of this hard and beautiful place.