Margins
Killing for Country book cover
Killing for Country
A Family Story
2023
First Published
4.33
Average Rating
532
Number of Pages

A gripping reckoning with the bloody history of Australia's frontier wars David Marr was shocked to discover forebears who served with the brutal Native Police in the bloodiest years on the frontier. Killing for Country is the result—a soul-searching Australian history. This is a richly detailed saga of politics and power in the colonial world—of land seized, fortunes made and lost, and the violence let loose as squatters and their allies fought for possession of the country—a war still unresolved in today's Australia. "This book is more than a personal reckoning with Marr's forebears and their crimes. It is an account of an Australian war fought here in our own country, with names, dates, crimes, body counts and the ghastly, remorseless views of the 'settlers'. Thank you, David."—Marcia Langton "[Marr is] one of the country's most accomplished non-fiction writers. I was sometimes reminded of Robert Hughes' study of convict transportation, The Fatal Shore (1987), in the epic quality of this book ... Killing For Country is a timely exercise in truth-telling amid a disturbing resurgence of denialism." —Frank Bongiorno, The Age " Killing for Country ... stands out for its unflinching eye, its dogged research, and the quality and power of its writing." —Mark McKenna, Australian Book Review "It's a timely, vital story." —Jason Steger, The Age "The timing of this book is painfully exquisite and it demonstrates perfectly how little race politics have changed in Australia." —Lucy Clark, The Guardian

Avg Rating
4.33
Number of Ratings
519
5 STARS
50%
4 STARS
35%
3 STARS
13%
2 STARS
2%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads

Author

David Marr
David Marr
Author · 12 books

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information. Eminent Australian journalist, author, and progressive political and social commentator. David Marr is the multi-award-winning author of Patrick White: A Life, Panic and The High Price of Heaven, and co- author with Marian Wilkinson of Dark Victory. He has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, The Saturday Paper, The Guardian Australia and the Monthly. He has been editor of the National Times, a reporter for Four Corners and presenter of ABC TV’s Media Watch. He is also the author of two previous bestselling biographical Quarterly Essays: Power Trip: The Political Journey of Kevin Rudd and Political Animal: The Making of Tony Abbott. His areas of expertise include Australian politics, law, censorship, the media and the arts. David Marr began his career in 1973 and is the recipient of four Walkley awards for journalism. He also appears as a semi-regular panellist on the ABC television programs Q&A and Insiders.

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