'In this lively, provocative collection, some of Australia's leading historians - and a Miles Franklin shortlisted historical novelist - challenge established myths and narratives about South Australia's past. Some are unmasked as false stories that mask brutal realities, while others are revealed as simplistic versions of more complex truths.' (Publication summary)
'It is both fascinating and revealing to read these two books together. Sendziuk and Foster's volume, a narrative history of South Australia (SA), is the first for some decades, and tells the state's story in a traditional format. The second is a book of essays, in which a diverse bunch of historians and a historical novelist with some new material challenge several of the South Australian foundational beliefs (‘fictions’). Read together they offer new perspectives on the old question about South Australian history: how different was South Australia? They also offer interesting synergies as Sendziuk, for example, is the author/editor of both volumes and he and Foster clearly take into account, where possible, the contrary arguments of the essay writers.' (Introduction)
'It is both fascinating and revealing to read these two books together. Sendziuk and Foster's volume, a narrative history of South Australia (SA), is the first for some decades, and tells the state's story in a traditional format. The second is a book of essays, in which a diverse bunch of historians and a historical novelist with some new material challenge several of the South Australian foundational beliefs (‘fictions’). Read together they offer new perspectives on the old question about South Australian history: how different was South Australia? They also offer interesting synergies as Sendziuk, for example, is the author/editor of both volumes and he and Foster clearly take into account, where possible, the contrary arguments of the essay writers.' (Introduction)
