The Struggle Against Isolation

Author: John Ramsland

The author was commissioned by the Greater Taree City Council at the beginning of 1985 to research and write this comprehensive history of the Manning River Valley as the City’s major contribution to the Bicentennial Celebrations.

“This book is about the people of the Manning and the history of their existence in the region since 1770. The Aborigines had already been on the Manning for thousands of years when the first few European settlers began to invade the valley in 1827. Their motive in establishing permanent settlement was to provide a healthy, prosperous life for their families and to reap the potential commercial harvest from the valley’s natural resources. The Aborigines, on the other hand, sought to maintain their traditional and subtle way of life based on hunting, fishing and food gathering, with as little alteration to the valley’s natural environment as possible. The European culture and the Aboriginal culture were very different from one another and some kind of clash was inevitable. The collision and eventual accommodation between the invading European civilisation is an important historical issue despite the patchiness of local documentation on the matter.”

Second-hand book – good condition

336 pages with black and white photos and illustrations

16.7cm x 25cm Hard Cover

Published 1987 (out of print)

Cost $45.00