From Deserts The Prophets Come: The Creative Spirit In Australia 1788-1972
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: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What does it mean to forge a culture from the ground up — in a land dismissed by the world as a vast, empty desert? Geoffrey Serle's landmark cultural history answers this question with compelling authority, chronicling the birth and evolution of Australia's creative spirit from the moment of European settlement in 1788 through to 1972. Spanning nearly two centuries, the work presents an ambitious and panoramic survey of Australian intellectual and artistic life, tracing the struggles and triumphs of writers, painters, scientists, musicians, and thinkers who dared to imagine a distinctly Australian civilisation against a backdrop of colonial indifference and geographic isolation. Serle argues with persuasive conviction that creativity did not merely survive in Australia — it flourished, shaped by the very harshness and remoteness of the continent itself. Drawing on a vast breadth of research, his prose is measured yet passionate, illuminating the deep tensions between cultural cringe and national pride that have long defined the Australian identity. From Deserts the Prophets Come stands as a foundational text in Australian cultural studies, essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how a nation finds its voice — and what it risks losing if it stops listening.
Author: Geoffrey Serle
Format: Paperback
Published: 1973, Heinemann
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What does it mean to forge a culture from the ground up — in a land dismissed by the world as a vast, empty desert? Geoffrey Serle's landmark cultural history answers this question with compelling authority, chronicling the birth and evolution of Australia's creative spirit from the moment of European settlement in 1788 through to 1972. Spanning nearly two centuries, the work presents an ambitious and panoramic survey of Australian intellectual and artistic life, tracing the struggles and triumphs of writers, painters, scientists, musicians, and thinkers who dared to imagine a distinctly Australian civilisation against a backdrop of colonial indifference and geographic isolation. Serle argues with persuasive conviction that creativity did not merely survive in Australia — it flourished, shaped by the very harshness and remoteness of the continent itself. Drawing on a vast breadth of research, his prose is measured yet passionate, illuminating the deep tensions between cultural cringe and national pride that have long defined the Australian identity. From Deserts the Prophets Come stands as a foundational text in Australian cultural studies, essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how a nation finds its voice — and what it risks losing if it stops listening.