 | ''The Axe Had Never Sounded'': Place, people and heritage of Recherche Bay, Tasmania 'This book meets well the triple promise of the title - the inter-connections of place, people and heritage. John Mulvaney brings to this work a deep knowledge of the history, ethnography and archaeology of Tasmania. He presents a comprehensive account of the area's history over the 200 years since French naval expeditions first charted its coastlines. The important records the French officers and scientists left of encounters with Aboriginal groups are discussed in detail, set in the wider ethnographic context and compared with those of later expeditions. 'The topical issues of understanding the importance of Recherche Bay as a cultural landscape and its protection and future management inform the book. Readers will be challenged to consider the connections between people and place, and how these may constitute significant national heritage.' Professor Isabel McBryde, AO, FRAI, FAHA, FSA John Mulvaney was born in Victoria, Australia on October 26, 1925. During World War II, he served in the Australian Air Force. He received a degree in history at Melbourne University and a degree in prehistoric archaeology at Cambridge University. In 1954, he became a lecturer at Melbourne University. In 1965, he started teaching at the Australian National University in Canberra. He retired from there in 1985. He was an archaeologist and author. He wrote, co-authored, or edited 16 books including his autobiography, Digging up a Past, which was published in 2011. He died on September 22, 2016 at the age of 90. (Bowker Author Biography) |
