Lucky City

Ballarat was not a typical goldfield. The lava flows that created the fertile Western District of Victoria helped to bury the original streams and reefs so that there was little surface alluvial gold. In a tantalizing search for fabulous underground river beds the youthful migrants of the 1850s overcame immense obstacles. They were both thrifty and speculative, using the profits of one bonanza to pursue another-and were probably goaded by officialdom into the famous Eureka rebellion of 1854.Lucky City explores the interaction of man with the environment and of particular men and ideas with the urban situation. It shows how, from a makeshift boom town, the city matured and sponsored such images of itself as 'Golden City?, 'City of Gardens?, 'City of Sculptures?. It sees its pioneers as heroic adventurers. The book also examines relationships with a fertile hinterland from which pastoral, agricultural, timber-milling and mining activity sustained Ballarat as a regional market-place and industrial centre. It looks at the spread of Ballarat?s influence in technology, unionism and national feeling right across Australia, as well as charting its rivalry with Bendigo and its resentment of Melbourne?s dominance.Weston Bate has produced a lively case study of a migrant community. The book is written with academic insight but should delight the general reader because of the clarity of the prose and the human focus. Typical of the approach are fascinating illustrations, deftly integrated into the text and covering the whole panorama of Ballarat life.