{"product_id":"2026200013346-secondhand-such-was-life-select-documents-in-australian-social-history-vol-1-1788-1850","title":"Such Was Life: Select Documents In Australian Social History Vol. 1 1788-1850","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: No dust jacket\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: Condition as shown in image\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the raw and turbulent edge of colonial settlement, where convicts and free settlers alike struggled to forge a new society from an ancient and unforgiving land, Such Was Life: Select Documents in Australian Social History Vol. 1 1788-1850 presents an authoritative and vivid mosaic of early Australian life. Compiled by renowned historian Russel Ward and John Robertson, this first volume chronicles the formative decades of European settlement in Australia — from the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 through to the social upheavals of 1850 — drawing on primary sources including letters, diaries, official dispatches, newspaper accounts, and personal testimonies that bring the era to life with remarkable immediacy.\n\nThe collection argues powerfully that Australian social history is best understood through the voices of those who lived it, whether governor or convict, free settler or Indigenous Australian, and Ward's celebrated expertise in Australian national identity lends the selection a sharp thematic coherence. The documents illuminate themes of class, labour, punishment, gender, and the brutal realities of colonial expansion, painting a portrait of a society in the very act of becoming. For students, historians, and general readers alike, this volume is an indispensable window into the founding chapters of a nation — and a tantalising invitation to ask what kind of society Australia truly set out to be.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49203367936219,"sku":"2026200013346-SECONDHAND","price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/a431500c-b4df-4452-8ebd-a2d456c7a19d.png?v=1788148008","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200013346-secondhand-such-was-life-select-documents-in-australian-social-history-vol-1-1788-1850","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}