Today I bought an amount of petrol and, a few mates and I went for a bit of a blast out to Kulnura for a coffee and a dogs eye. Damn good coffee, Gordon Ramsay would be apoplectic about the pie though.
Now, to the point of this missive, two things I bought a while back. First, David Hills', The Gold Rush and secondly, Peter Fitzsimons' Eureka: The Unfinished Revolution. Both of the books are a great read if you have and interest in Australian Colonial history, political science and, obviously the development of the Australian gold fields.
Mr Hill's work is a collected history of the discovery of Gold in our country and it's exploitation and the characters involved. Peter Fitzsimons' does it again in his usual thorough and very readable yet informative style and gives a very well researched account of the development of the gold fields then goes on to deliver a comprehensive account of the Colony of Victorias' approach to extracting a heavy tax from the miners, the miners reactions, the governments' unchecked and over reaching of its remit and exercise of excessive and coercive force that led to the siege at the Eureka Stockade and the murderous and bloody reaction of Governor Sir Charles Hotham's Mounted Constabulary, armed Infantry soldiers and light artillery.
The story is compelling to the last word in how Peter Lalore was raised from the leader of the miners, hunted by the Constabulary and then elevated to become a "legitimate" pioneer of the franchise, political representation & property rights for working classes. The Eureka crisis is a definitive story of Australian egalitarianism and how the Rule of Law and democratic process prevailed over the state abusing its' power and exceeding its moral and legitimate authority.
I highly recommend both titles and moreover, I have found that most of Peter Fitzsimons works are available on Bolinda Audio Books (MP3 and CD format) at ABC Shops and online/ebay etc. Audio books are a great way to enjoy a book on those long drives to your fav digs as well as at the end of the day tusked up dog-tired in your swag.
The Peacekeeper.