Reading time: 3 minutes
This is an excellent and much needed book. It examines the military aspects of the Australian Frontier Wars from an Aboriginal perspective, detailing the tactics, strategy, logistics and weapons Aboriginal people employed to resist European encroachment on their land. Covering several campaigns across different areas and time periods, it details both successes and failures of the Aboriginal military forces. Some of its most interesting conclusions reflect the extent to which Aboriginal resistance slowed and impeded the encroachment of European settlement across Australia.
By David Phillipson
University of Southern Queensland associate adjunct professor Ray Kerkhove builds on his previous work Mapping Frontier Conflict in South-East Queensland and The Battle of One Tree Hill, co-authored with Frank Uhr. Over the past decade he has examined hundreds of reports of individual skirmishes and battles on the Australian Frontier from newspapers, diaries, memoirs and documents. He also used the anthropological and archaeological record to study what warfare in Australia looked like prior to the arrival of Europeans.
Divided into chapters that provide detailed studies of weapons, small unit tactics, the organisation of military units by individual tribes and wider coalitions, intelligence, command and control, communications, logistics, training and broad strategy, the book looks at the conflict through an explicitly military lens. This contrasts with the prevailing narrative that Aboriginal people were mostly passive victims of massacre and disease.
The book’s many illustrations, maps and diagrams make the concepts easier to understand and visualise. There are several very useful tables with details of different battles and the use of particular tactics. The very extensive references and footnotes provide much further reading as well as an insight into the very significant evidence base Kerkhove used to create the book.
Kerkhove provides a good number of comparisons between the Australian experience of Frontier war and that of other indigenous people across the globe. I found the comparisons to the North American Frontier conflicts and the Zulu wars to be particularly interesting.
Kerkhove has created a book that is both an interesting and compelling read, as well as immediately becoming the reference for the military aspects of the Australian Frontier Wars. The structure of the book lends itself well to this role, allowing you to quickly refer to any topic. This is a book that will both broaden and deepen your understanding of the Australian Frontier Wars.
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The 1919 Egyptian Revolution
Reading time: 8 minutes
The events of 1919 in Egypt show how the First World War played a crucial role in affecting the country’s history after the war ended.The interwar years saw a political dance take place between the British, Egyptian nationalist politicians, and the Egyptian king, who mistrusted the nationalists. It would take the upheaval of the Second World War and a further Egyptian Revolution in 1952 for the British to leave Egypt. The last British troops left in June 1956, although the Suez Crisis later that year saw their temporary return. While the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 did not secure Egypt’s freedom from foreign rule, it was an important step towards that goal. After 1919, the British had to consider the strength of Egyptian nationalism and deal with nationalist politicians. The Revolution was an inspiration for other anti-colonial struggles across Africa and Asia. The events of 1919 in Egypt show how the First World War played a crucial role in affecting the country’s history after the war ended. The negative effects of the war on Egypt unleashed powerful forces in Egyptian politics and society that could not be ignored.
How the Gunpowder Treason was discovered
Reading time: 9 minutes
On the night of 4 November 1605, a man calling himself John Johnson was found in the vaults beneath the House of Lords with 36 barrels of gunpowder. Under questioning, Johnson – whose real name was Guy Fawkes – admitted that he and his co-conspirators planned to use the gunpowder to blow up the House during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November. If successful, this plot – which became known as the Gunpowder Treason, or Gunpowder Plot – would have killed not only King James I (and VI) but members of his family, his chief ministers, and the Members of Parliament in attendance at the state opening. This was treason on an unprecedented scale – an attempt to destroy both the king and his government.
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