1787: The Lost Chapters of Australia's Beginnings

‘If we broaden our gaze, our story will get bigger.’

Nick Brodie’s 1787 traces the history of Australia before the First Fleet. Usually treated as a preface to the main story – a brief interlude that starts 50,000 years before the present and ends as sails are seen on an eastern horizon – the time before European settlement is so much more. In 1787 the peoples of Australia were not simply living in a timeless ‘Dreamtime’, following the seasons, and waiting for colonisation by Britain in 1788.

Nick Brodie uses the sailors, writers, scientists, and other visitors to our shores to reassess neglected chapters of Australia’s early history. Brodie turns the narratives of ‘exploration’ and ‘discovery’ around to take a closer look at the indigenous peoples, the broader regional scene, and what these encounters collectively tell. This is the sweeping story of Greater Australasia and its peoples, a long-overdue challenge to the myth that Australia’s story started in 1788.

About the author: Dr Nick Brodie is a historian, archaeologist, and writer. Nick’s previous book, Kin, was published to critical acclaim in 2015.

Praise for Kin:

‘[In] his richly multilayered tale … he skilfully interweaves European contact with Aboriginal and Islander peoples’.

Ross Fitzgerald, Emeritus Professor of History & Politics in the Sydney Morning Herald.