The Murray: A River and Its People - Softcover

Sinclair, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0522849407 ISBN 13: 9780522849400

Publisher: Melbourne University Publishing, 2002

Synopsis

The Murray River is in crisis and faces an uncertain future. This evocative book explores the reasons why the river has become degraded and what these changes have meant to the Australians. This in-depth study of the Murray River examines the changing cultural meanings of the river, the practical forgetfulness that has eroded the Aboriginal presence, the triumphant narratives in which a supposedly empty land is made purposeful by the life-giving powers of the Murray, and the passion to make the river’s flow predictable and to replace primitive forces with a domesticated and balanced landscape.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul Sinclair grew up near the Murray River at Kerang, in northern Victoria. He has published widely on Australia’s environmental history and is now a research fellow at the Australian Center at the University of Melbourne. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Review:

“As Paul Sinclair details in his thoughtful and valuable book, The Murray, the nation's second-longest and most important river is a potent emblem of Australia's forehead-slapping failure to comprehend and conserve its most precious resource—fresh water—and its rich natural and human histories. Out of its pages flows pride and shame, a waterway at once famous and infamous, lauded and forgotten, adored and abused.” —The Bulletin

“Paul Sinclair's The Murray sings life into a dying river.” —The Sydney Morning Herald

About this edition

• Publisher: Melbourne University Publishing
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0522849407
• ISBN 13: 9780522849400
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320