Gates of Gold

Gates of Gold, the first book in the series Gold! Hidden Stories of Australia's Past, tells about the discovery of gold and the legacy it left that changed the face of Australia defining and shaping its identity. Learn about: 

• how, in the lead up to the discovery of gold with the trailblazing of the British into Victoria and beyond the lives of First Nations people were irrevocably changed.

• The catastrophic impact on First Nations people and how they found ways to survive even when the odds were pitched so much against them. 

• How Australia became like a whirlpool of molten gold sucking in men and women from all over the world creating a population explosion with diverse communities and religions, different races, and different ideologies.

• The coming of the Chinese, who contributed greatly to the Australian story, but whose migration to the goldfields gave birth to racist, anti-Chinese sentiment.

• The seeds of the Australian uprising and how the Eureka Stockade on the goldfields in 1854 was a battle inspired by political purpose. 

• A landscape transformed, a country upset, turned upside down, and a once pristine environment redesigned.

• How the prevailing attitudes of the Europeans in the nineteenth century justified their actions prior to the discovery of gold and its aftermath.

If you relish the uncovering of hidden stories, iconic episodes or truth telling to do with Australia's past, then this book and the others in the series are for you.