Murray Johnson Livres

The second edition offers a comprehensive exploration of Australian Aborigines through over 300 cross-referenced entries covering their politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. It includes a detailed chronology and an extensive bibliography, providing valuable resources for understanding the historical and contemporary issues faced by Aboriginal communities. This dictionary serves as an essential reference for scholars and anyone interested in the rich heritage and complexities of Aboriginal life in Australia.

Focusing on the resilience of the first Tasmanians, this comprehensive account delves into the long history of Aborigines in Van Diemen's Land, highlighting their isolation for 300 generations following the flooding of Bass Strait. It examines their struggle against overwhelming challenges, emphasizing the need for respect and serious consideration of their epic survival story, which continues to the present day.

This book places the Aboriginal occupation of Australia within a broad framework of human evolution and habitation. The author discusses the pioneering studies that delve into the mists of antiquity, and he engages with current controversies, including the extinction of mega fauna, land management practices, and social development over many millennia. The extraordinary achievements of Australian Aborigines are revealed in all their complexity and the evidence surrounding the identity of Australia's first occupants is re-examined. The discovery of the Hobbits of the island of Flores show that proto-humans were edging towards the great southern continent ; their capacity to cross the sea implies intelligence and organisation, but how far did their footsteps extend? This is just one of many challenging questions brought to life in this absorbing account of Australia's pre-contact history