Land, Labour And Gold: Or Two Years In Victoria With Visits To Sydney And Van Diemen's Land
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Yellowed
Condition remarks: some moisture damage to book block;
In the raw, restless years of the Victorian Gold Rush, one Englishman ventured to the opposite end of the earth and returned with one of the most vivid firsthand chronicles of colonial Australia ever written. Land, Labour and Gold: or Two Years in Victoria with Visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's Land is William Howitt's remarkable account of his time on the Australian continent in the early 1850s — a period of seismic social upheaval, mass migration, and the intoxicating promise of sudden fortune. With the eye of a trained observer and the pen of a seasoned writer, Howitt details the brutal realities of life on the goldfields, the sprawling chaos of boomtown settlements, and the sweeping landscapes of a young colony straining under the weight of its own transformation. Howitt writes with an authority and moral seriousness that elevates this travelogue far beyond mere adventure memoir, offering incisive commentary on class, labour, colonialism, and the human cost of the gold fever that gripped a generation. His prose is measured yet richly evocative, presenting scenes of both grandeur and grim hardship with equal clarity. Originally published in 1855, the work stands as an invaluable primary source for students of Australian history and a gripping read for anyone drawn to the drama of frontier life — leaving one to wonder how much of the colonial spirit Howitt uncovered still echoes in the nation he so keenly observed.
Author: William Howitt
Format: Hardback
Published: 1972, Lowden / Kilmore, Australia
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Yellowed
Condition remarks: some moisture damage to book block;
In the raw, restless years of the Victorian Gold Rush, one Englishman ventured to the opposite end of the earth and returned with one of the most vivid firsthand chronicles of colonial Australia ever written. Land, Labour and Gold: or Two Years in Victoria with Visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's Land is William Howitt's remarkable account of his time on the Australian continent in the early 1850s — a period of seismic social upheaval, mass migration, and the intoxicating promise of sudden fortune. With the eye of a trained observer and the pen of a seasoned writer, Howitt details the brutal realities of life on the goldfields, the sprawling chaos of boomtown settlements, and the sweeping landscapes of a young colony straining under the weight of its own transformation. Howitt writes with an authority and moral seriousness that elevates this travelogue far beyond mere adventure memoir, offering incisive commentary on class, labour, colonialism, and the human cost of the gold fever that gripped a generation. His prose is measured yet richly evocative, presenting scenes of both grandeur and grim hardship with equal clarity. Originally published in 1855, the work stands as an invaluable primary source for students of Australian history and a gripping read for anyone drawn to the drama of frontier life — leaving one to wonder how much of the colonial spirit Howitt uncovered still echoes in the nation he so keenly observed.