A&U acquires The Australian Wars

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to The Australian Wars, edited by Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray and Henry Reynolds.

The book will be drawn from Blackfella Films’ award-winning SBS documentary series of the same name, ‘the first book to tell the national story of the country’s longest running war,’ said the publisher. ‘From 1788 to the early 1900s campaigns of massacres, guerilla warfare and resistance occurred across Australia in contests of firearms and traditional Aboriginal weaponry, as Indigenous nations resisted colonial occupation of their lands, territory by territory. At stake was the sovereignty of Australia.

‘First Nations writers and historians along with non-Indigenous authors will recount these stories across three crucial time periods: 1788 to the 1830s; the 1830s to the 1860s; and then to the early 1900s. The Australian Wars will platform truth and the ongoing impact of these conflicts, examining the role of women, disease, weapons and tactics,’ said the publisher.

Contributors include Thomas Mayo, Marcia Langton, David Marr, Kim Scott, June Oscar, Raymond Evans and Ian Clark and all four editors will also contribute.

Publisher Sally Heath said: ‘It has been a massive logistical project, to have historians documenting events in each state and territory, paired with the stories of First Nations’ writers from those areas. To piece together this comprehensive story of the battles that raged for more than one hundred years for the contest of this nation has been revelatory. The Australian Wars brings what for too long has been considered the historical past into the present.’

The Australian Wars is scheduled for publication in November 2025.

Pictured [l-r]: Henry Reynolds, Mina Murray, Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps

Photo credits: Dylan River (Rachel Perkins), Mark Horstman (Henry Reynolds)

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions