100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders πŸš€

The Good Country

The Djadja Wurrung, the Settlers and the Protectors
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Good Country by Bain Attwood explores the story of a 19th-century Australian colony where Aboriginal sovereignty and settler colonialism directly intersected. The book reveals the complexities, conflicts, and power dynamics as both Aboriginal people and settlers navigated new and challenging realities. It's an insightful look into the historical interaction between Indigenous Australians and European settlers, offering a nuanced perspective on a formative period.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of The Good Country. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this if you're intrigued by Australia's colonial past and interested in how the interactions between settlers and Indigenous peoples played a crucial role in shaping the nation. Bain Attwood's work offers a compelling exploration of historical narratives and the complex relationships that challenge our understanding of justice and reconciliation in history.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Beyond the generalisations of national and colonial history, what can we know about how Aboriginal nations interacted with the British settlers who invaded their country, the men appointed by the imperial and colonial governments to protect them, and each other?

In The Good Country Bain Attwood makes a major contribution to our knowledge of this period by providing a superbly researched, finely grained local history of the Djadja Wurrung people of Central Victoria.

The story is a shocking one, of destruction, decimation and dispossession, but, equally powerfully, it is not one of unceasing conflict. With reference to an unusually rich historical record, concepts such as the frontier and resistance emerge as inadequate in this context. Attwood recovers a good deal of the modus vivendi that the Djadja Wurrung reached with sympathetic protectors, pastoralists and gold diggers, showing how they both adopted and adapted to these intruders to remain in their own country, at least for a time.

Finally, drawing past and present together, Attwood relates the remarkable story of the revival of the Djadja Wurrung in recent times as they have sought to become their own historians.

Series: Australian History

View all
  • Contesting Australian History
    One of Australia’s leading scholars and a highly distinguished professor of history, Marilyn Lake forged a career that spanned several decades across a number of universities. Her books and other scholarly writings have significantly advanced our understandings not only of Australian social, cultural and political history but also of the interdependence of that history with those of Britain, the US...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Geoffrey Blainey
    Geoffrey Blainey is often described as Australia's greatest living historian, a writer whose prolific output includes such iconic books about the country's past as The Tyranny of Distance and Triumph of the Nomads. However, Blainey has also been a controversial figure. His 1984 comments about Asian immigration triggered a major political controversy. In turn, the reaction of his critics raised...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • A Handful of Sand
    Fifty years ago, a group of striking Aboriginal stockmen in the remote Northern Territory of Australia heralded a revolution in the cattle industry and a massive shift in Aboriginal affairs. Now, after many years of research, A Handful of Sand tells the story behind the Gurindji people's famous Wave Hill Walk-off in 1966 and questions the meanings commonly attributed to...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Asbestos in Australia
    Asbestos in Australia presents for the first time a multi-dimensional view of Australia's asbestos story, featuring contributions from experts in the disciplines of history, journalism, medicine, law, and public health. It also includes first-hand accounts of those whose lives have been touched by the mineral, such as workers, asbestos disease sufferers, and lawyers and campaigners directly engaged in the struggle...
    Paperback
    $4799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Dunera Lives
    The story of the Dunera Boys is an intrinsic part of the history of Australia in the Second World War and in its aftermath. The injustice these 2000 men suffered through British internment in camps at Hay, Tatura and Orange is well known. Less familiar is the tale of what happened to them afterwards. Dunera Lives tells that story, in...
    Paperback
    $4799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Making Modern Australia
    The changes we have made will remainβ€”like all great Labor legislationβ€”permanent landmarks in our history. Gough Whitlam The Whitlam government propelled Australia out of the presumptions and certainties of twenty-three years of conservative government and changed it irrevocably. It passed a record number of bills into law and became the most successful reformist government in Australia's history. Making Modern Australia...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Good Country
    Beyond the generalisations of national and colonial history, what can we know about how Aboriginal nations interacted with the British settlers who invaded their country, the men appointed by the imperial and colonial governments to protect them, and each other? In The Good Country Bain Attwood makes a major contribution to our knowledge of this period by providing a superbly...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • A Historian for All Seasons
    A Historian for All Seasons highlights Geoffrey Bolton as the most versatile and widely travelled historian of his generation in Australia. As a scholar, teacher, and commentator, Bolton enriched the understanding of the country's regional mosaic, notable figures, and others equally revealing. His work explored the natural environment, social patterns, and political life, making significant contributions to the field. Bolton...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Me Write Myself'
    Exiles, lost souls, remnants of a dying race. The fate of the First Nations peoples of Van Diemen's Land is one of the most infamous chapters in Australian and world history. The men, women, and children exiled to Flinders Island in the 1830s and 40s have often been written about, but never allowed to speak for themselves. Me Write Myself...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Good Country by Bain Attwood is celebrated for its meticulous scholarship and profound insights into the historical narrative of the Djadja Wurrung people and their interactions with European settlers. The book is praised for avoiding generalisations, offering a detailed examination of local history and how colonial relationships developed in the depicted region. Reviews commend Attwood's focus on the complexities of frontier relations and a nuanced understanding of land and cultural exchanges.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781922979070

Publisher: Monash University Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 July 2023

Country: Australia

Imprint: Monash University Publishing

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 135.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 300g

Pages: 240

About the Author

Bain Attwood is Professor of History at Monash University and has held fellowships at the University of Cambridge and Harvard University. In 2010 his book Possession: Batman's Treaty and the Matter of History won the Ernest Scott Prize for the most distinguished contribution to the history of Australia or New Zealand or colonial history. He has written many books, including the acclaimed biography William Cooper: An Aboriginal Life Story, about the inspirational Aboriginal leader William Cooper, and co-edited Telling Stories: Indigenous History and Memory in Australia and New Zealand and Protection and Empire: A Global History.

Also by Bain Attwood

View all
  • William Cooper
    William Cooper: An Aboriginal Life Story details William Cooper's passionate struggle against the dispossession of Aboriginal people and the denial of their rights, as well as his heroic fight for them to become citizens in their own country. His efforts have been widely commemorated and celebrated. By carefully reconstructing the historical losses his Yorta Yorta people suffered and endured, the...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $2899
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The 1967 Referendum
    On 27 May 1967, a remarkable event occurred. An overwhelming majority of electors voted in a national referendum to amend clauses of the Australian Constitution concerning Aboriginal people. Today, it is commonly regarded as a turning point in the history of relations between Indigenous and white Australians: a historic moment when citizenship rights, including the vote, were granted, and the...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Thinking Black
    Most non-Indigenous Australians know of Charles Perkins. Many are familiar with a few other Aboriginal leaders. Yet few have heard of William Cooper, one of the most important Aboriginal leaders in Australia's history. Thinking Black tells the story of Cooper and the Australian Aborigines' League, and their campaign for Aboriginal people's rights. Through petitions to government, letters to other campaigners...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from History & Military

View all
  • Saving Elli
    One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Spy and the Traitor
    The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre is a spellbinding Cold War thriller that unravels the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who risked everything to aid the British in the battle against Soviet oppression. In meticulously researched detail, Macintyre paints a vivid portrait of espionage, double-crossing, and unparalleled bravery, giving readers a riveting glimpse into...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Betrayal
    β€˜Tom Bower is the Inspector Morse of investigative biographers, a fluent, phlegmatic storyteller and a master of intricacies.’ Sunday Times The British Crown is in crisis, with constitutional threats at home and abroad. At a landmark moment in royal history, can King Charles overcome the scandals that blight the Royal family? Can the broken bonds between the Houses of Sussex...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Signed
    New Release
    The Chief and the Empire
    The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential Māori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the Pākehā world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Shattered Lands
    'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' – PETER FRANKOPAN 'This book is a revelation … both original and important' – MISHAL HUSAIN A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and...
    Paperback
    $3699
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Goliath’s Curse
    Goliath’s Curse by Luke Kemp offers a radical retelling of human history through the lens of collapse, delving into what this means for our uncertain future. This narrative spans from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond. It's grounded in the latest research and a comprehensive database of more than 440...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Good Settler
    β€˜Where once I saw a view as I drove around the Taranaki coast along State Highway 45, I now see confiscated land from an invasion road. The creation story I used to subscribe to, the one in which hard-working people came here and settled the land, now jars. Weirdly, even the lawn looks different. The form of things just won’t...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Banjara
    A powerful literary debut from an astonishing new Kiwi voice, focusing on the Indo-Fijian indenture system and how it affected generations across the Pacific.Rajasthan 1888: Avani Rathod, a nomad of the Banjara community, is summoned to teach a blue-eyed colonial officer the trees of her region, but instead is misled into indenture to the sugarcane plantations of Fiji. While on...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • This Way Up
    The debut book from the YouTube sensation and all-round cartographical nerds, The Map Men! In their long-awaited debut, YouTube’s Map Men bring their highly infectious enthusiasm for everything map-related to the printed page for the very first time, in a brilliantly entertaining and eye-catching tome. Packed with humour and fascinating facts, This Way Up takes a deep dive into the...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.