The British flag has been planted... the name of King George IV had been invoked... the Swan River Colony was launched. What now?
This book shows how the colonists managed the extraordinary task of creating a new home in a foreign territory so very far from all they had ever held dear.
The author examines the economic performance of the colonists during the whole pre-convict period, from the 1820s to the 1850s. What did they and their families achieve? What obstacles were in their way? Pamela Statham-Drew, an economic historian who has written extensively about Western Australia's yesterdays, offers a range of answers.
And the impact on the indigenous population who had lived on this land for thousands of years? Was the Battle of Pinjarra, for one example, the only real resistance? Readers are encouraged to consider such key questions of arrival, settlement and dispossession in this well-researched and beautifully illustrated book.
