- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd; New edition edition (25 May 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1920885366
- ISBN-13: 978-1841956992
- ASIN: 1841956996
- Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 14.8 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 571,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Dancing With Strangers
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Product Description
Review
"'Clendinnen writes so well, with an eye for detail and character that make her a pleasure to read... Her words dance across the page' NEW YORK TIMES 'I cannot imagine that a more vivid or beguiling account of the origins of British Australia will ever be written. An extraordinary achievement' ROBERT MANNE, AGE"
BIG ISSUE
"Dancing with Strangers offers a fascinating insight to a history that is little remembered."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is the new book by one of Australia's foremost historians and writers, Inga Clendinnen. It focuses on the history of 'first contact' in Australia, between the Indigenous Australians and the British colonisers in the years 1788-1800. The author has drawn on as many primary sources as possible to recreate the world of these people in this time, particularly the journals kept by the British. She has meticulously compared different versions of the same events, enabling her to extract the facts from the subjective accounts that are our only window into this time and place. She has also drawn on any available anthropological accounts of the Aboriginal people of the region around Sydney, where these events took place. Applying these anthropological insights, Clendinnen has been able to offer a possible interpretation of the events and relationships of this period from the perspective of the Aboriginal people.
We are introduced to a fascinating cast, both British and Aboriginal, and we learn not just the famous historical events, but the human history as well - how they coped with their situations, and most particularly, how they forged relationships with each other. For this is at the heart of Dancing with Strangers: the story of two very different - perhaps even extraordinarily incompatible - cultures encountering each other - and profoundly misunderstanding each other.
For those of us familiar with the early events of Australia's history, and the well-documented maltreatment of Aboriginal people, it is s surprise to find that Arthur Phillip, the country's first Governor, was such a fair-minded and compassionate man. He struggled to treat the local Aboriginal people as well as possible, with fairness and equality. Perhaps most remarkably, he tried to understand them.
However, he left the colony in 1792, after just four years as its Governor, and his successors were less enlightened and certainly less fair than he. Inga Clendinnen's beautifully written account of the earliest years of white settlement of Australia offers us an absorbing glimpse of a time which suggests that history in this part of the world could have turned out very differently. With Phillip's departure from the colony, an opportunity for a new nation built on trust and understanding between the colonisers and the colonised was lost.
This is a beautifully written account of a period in Australia's history which reminds us that things could have turned out very differently for Aboriginal people.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A well researched history of the first British attempts at a colony in the natural deep water harbour that is modern day Sydney and surrounds. The book is written in an academic voice with the usual structure that is expected from this form of writing.
However the Author makes clear that the understanding of the evidence left by those first stumbling steps is product of many previous writers on the subject. She points out when her interpretation deviates from the accepted or traditional understanding of the events.
There are several colour plates depicting early paintings of key events and people during the years of struggle to establish a foothold. The author presents the evidence regarding the conflicts between the native Australians and the Invaders in a passive voice which allows the reader to come to there own conclusion.
The sketch map of the New South Wales area is contemporary to the era and I found I needed a modern day map to really make sense of the geography and to put the hardship of moving around during the 18th century.
"Dancing with Strangers" clarifies many question of those early days but as good writing of this style should do, it leaves the reader with more question to answer.
A good insight to the early stages of Australia's history and hints at source of the deteriorating relationship that developed of the next 200 years regarding the rights and treatment of the Aboriginals.
However the Author makes clear that the understanding of the evidence left by those first stumbling steps is product of many previous writers on the subject. She points out when her interpretation deviates from the accepted or traditional understanding of the events.
There are several colour plates depicting early paintings of key events and people during the years of struggle to establish a foothold. The author presents the evidence regarding the conflicts between the native Australians and the Invaders in a passive voice which allows the reader to come to there own conclusion.
The sketch map of the New South Wales area is contemporary to the era and I found I needed a modern day map to really make sense of the geography and to put the hardship of moving around during the 18th century.
"Dancing with Strangers" clarifies many question of those early days but as good writing of this style should do, it leaves the reader with more question to answer.
A good insight to the early stages of Australia's history and hints at source of the deteriorating relationship that developed of the next 200 years regarding the rights and treatment of the Aboriginals.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A Glimpse of How Things Might Have Been
27 Jan 2005
Format:Hardcover
Inga Clendinnen's new book traces the history of contact between Aboriginal Australians and British colonisers from 1788-1800. Clendinnen has used a number of primary sources for her book, mainly journals kept by the British. By comparing different versions of the same events, she has - as far as is possible - excavated the facts of what actually happened from the subjective accounts they are embedded in. She has then applied the available anthropological knowledge about the Indigenous people of Sydney to interpret events and relationships through their Aboriginal cultural context.
We meet a fascinating group of people, both British and Aboriginal, and learn about how they coped with their newfound situations, and how they forged relationships with each other. Most of all, we find a story of two very different cultures profoundly misunderstanding each other.
However, we also find a fair and compassionate man in Australia's first Governor, Arthur Phillip. In the years from 1788-1792, his leadership was committed to treating the Aboriginal locals well, interacting with them as equals, and attempting to understand them.
As Phillip leaves the colony and subsequent Governors are less committed to these ideals, we sense an opportunity lost, and glimpse a different set of possibilities for Australia. This is a beautifully written account of a period in Australia's history which reminds us that things could have turned out very differently for Aboriginal people.
We meet a fascinating group of people, both British and Aboriginal, and learn about how they coped with their newfound situations, and how they forged relationships with each other. Most of all, we find a story of two very different cultures profoundly misunderstanding each other.
However, we also find a fair and compassionate man in Australia's first Governor, Arthur Phillip. In the years from 1788-1792, his leadership was committed to treating the Aboriginal locals well, interacting with them as equals, and attempting to understand them.
As Phillip leaves the colony and subsequent Governors are less committed to these ideals, we sense an opportunity lost, and glimpse a different set of possibilities for Australia. This is a beautifully written account of a period in Australia's history which reminds us that things could have turned out very differently for Aboriginal people.
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