{"product_id":"2026200016352-secondhand-lucky-city-the-first-generation-at-ballarat-1851-1901","title":"Lucky City: The First Generation At Ballarat; 1851-1901","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Worn\/faded, no tears\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the heart of Victoria's goldfields, a city was born from fortune and ambition — Lucky City: The First Generation at Ballarat, 1851–1901 chronicles the remarkable fifty-year transformation of Ballarat from a chaotic gold rush encampment into one of Australia's most prosperous and culturally rich urban centres. Weston Bate presents a vivid and meticulously researched portrait of the settlers, miners, merchants, and visionaries who shaped this frontier community, capturing the raw energy of a society forged in the crucible of the 1851 gold rush and tempered by decades of struggle, ingenuity, and civic pride. The narrative illuminates the social hierarchies, political battles, and economic forces that defined the lives of ordinary men and women, from the mud and mayhem of the diggings to the grandeur of ornate civic buildings that still define Ballarat's streetscape today.\n\nBate writes with the authority of a scholar and the warmth of a storyteller, weaving together archival research and human drama to produce a work of enduring historical significance in Australian historiography. Lucky City is not merely a local history — it is a window into the broader story of colonial Australia, illustrating how a single geological accident of nature could forge a community's identity for generations to come. Winner of the Ernest Scott Prize for History, this landmark work raises the compelling question: how much of what we call civilisation is simply the residue of good luck?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49336799559899,"sku":"2026200016352-SECONDHAND","price":20.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/25ac2bac-f4a7-40dc-b597-af5cb21b8844.png?v=1789957826","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200016352-secondhand-lucky-city-the-first-generation-at-ballarat-1851-1901","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}