Book Review

The One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of Gold Discovery in Australia caused a flurry of publishing. The long-desired National Museum of Australia chose to celebrate the gold rushes in its opening exhibition. A lavish book, Gold: Forgotten Histories and Lost Objects, was produced by the Museum to mark the occasion, presenting a collection of essays that re-assess the traditional ‘narrative of progress’ in relation to the contribution of the gold rushes to Australian history. There is a strong visual element to the book, with many art-works reproduced in colour. The marbled-gold cover suggests an opulent work, and the quality of the essays live up to that impression.	1
A very different work is Robyn Annear’s racy popular history, Nothing But Gold. This was cannily produced before the gold anniversary, and quickly became an essential tool for getting under the skin of an alluvial miner of the 1850s. Given that many Australians claim an ancestor who fossicked on the Victorian goldfields, this book is instantly appealing to family historians. It uses personal accounts, diaries and the author’s own oral history to great effect. Its no-nonsense paperback format makes it an entertaining companion for the traveller seeking to re-enter the past. Both books attempt to give a place to those who have been ignored in many earlier histories of gold. Women feature strongly in both. Annear gives voice to women through their diaries, and the same diaries are used by Margaret Anderson in her essay. Susan Lawrence’s contribution uses archaeological evidence to piece together the social history of families following the rushes to rugged bush locations.	2
The editors of the Gold collection pose a challenging question. They ask to what extent the gold story was a myth developed by the radical nationalists from the 1890s, idealising the digger and the Eureka uprising through the words of literary figures like Henry Lawson and Victor Daley. Some of the authors in this collection examine the obverse of the myth – the racism and sexism of the times, the economic exploitation of workers, and the environmental degradation. The contributors illustrate ‘the value of giving due weight to the increasingly unfashionable conception of class interest’. Ann Curthoys exposes the vicious racism of the goldfields, vividly illustrated at the Lambing Flat riot in 1861, while Charles Fahey delves into the experiences of the pioneering miners’ union in Bendigo. The geographic coverage is wide, with all states of Australia and also Papua-New Guinea receiving attention.	3
As the collection was commissioned through the National Museum, there is a strong emphasis on material culture, and the chapters that dealt with recently unearthed sketches and goldfields’ jewellery were particularly illuminating. The two books serve very different purposes and appeal to different audiences. The National Museum’s collection of essays is a scholarly collection, indispensable for its contribution to the historiography of gold. Annear’s lively sketch of 1852 brings the era to smelly, noisy, uncomfortable and exciting life, a bubbly narrative based on good historical research.	4
University of Ballarat ANNE BEGGS SUNTER

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