The Australian Wars

It is estimated up to 100,000 people died in the frontier wars that raged across Australia for more than 150 years. This is equivalent to the combined total of all Australians killed in foreign battles to date. However, there are few memorials marking these first, domestic wars.

The Australian Wars was conceived by Rachel Perkins following her award-winning documentary series produced by Blackfella Films for SBS and edited along with Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray, and Henry Reynolds. This is the first book to tell the story of the continental sweep of massacres, guerrilla warfare, resistance, and the contests of firearms and traditional Aboriginal weaponry as Indigenous nations resisted colonial occupation of their lands, territory by territory. At stake was the sovereignty of an entire country.

Black and white writers tell the stories of these battles across three crucial time periods, and all the states and territories. It notes the lands that were unconquered, as well as the role of disease, weapons, and tactics, and the story of women on the frontier.

This history is still alive in those descendants who carry the stories of their ancestors. The Australian Wars brings what for too long has been considered the historical past into the present so that we might know the truth of the origins of this nation.

"As it peels back the enduring veils of silence and denial about our shared past, The Australian Wars exposes a complex legacy of shame, pride, crime, and valour. It offers us an opportunity to ask ourselves, in a spirit of humility and honesty, what it truly means to be an Australian patriot. The authors of this work have delivered a huge favour wrapped in a hard lesson." - Tim Winton

"An inspiring, game-changing work of collective truth-telling about our shared history." - Kate Grenville

"This book provides the most comprehensive account available of the continental violence against Aboriginal people during the colonial settlement and some of its consequences today. Rachel Perkins and her fellow editors have done us all a great service in bringing this history together. Some opinions will be disputed and there will be debate about how these conflicts will be characterised and memorialised, but it is for all Australians, whether descended from the pioneer generations or not, to respond to this history by ensuring that every person in today's Australia is treated with equal respect and dignity, and provided with the opportunities that all people deserve." - David Kemp AC

"Together with the TV series The Australian Wars puts down a marker: no more denial, no more cant. These wars happened and we cannot blink them away. The Australian frontier was a battlefield, and we should recognise this as we recognise those other battlefields in Turkey, France, and New Guinea. We should remember the dead, honour the brave. It will give us a firmer basis for thinking clearly about who we are and what to do." - Don Watson

"There was a fight for this country and in many places an intense one where the colonials were held at bay. This book has the best of contemporary research. It will ensure that the original people of this nation are not denied the dignity of their resistance and the truth telling has the edge it should." - Kim Beazley

The Australian Wars is a compelling call to truth-telling and national reckoning. It exposes the historical amnesia surrounding Australia's foundation, comparing the silencing of the Frontier Wars to that of the Stolen Generations. Through a sharp critique of national institutions like the Australian War Memorial and a demand for the inclusion of Indigenous histories, the authors urge Australians to confront the realities of colonial violence. This is more than a chronicle of the past—it is a challenge to reshape national memory, honour Indigenous resistance as patriotic, and build a future rooted in justice and shared truth.

The Australian Wars is a powerful, meticulously researched, and deeply moving account that redefines Australia's colonial history through the lens of Indigenous resistance and truth-telling. Edited by Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray, and Henry Reynolds, the book confronts the long-denied reality of the Frontier Wars, offering a compelling blend of personal testimony, historical analysis, and cultural insight. It challenges the myths of peaceful settlement, honours the courage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and calls for national reckoning and remembrance. Essential reading for all Australians, this book is a landmark contribution to our understanding of the violent foundations of modern Australia." - The Hon Ken Wyatt AC