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Within the Yarra River catchment area nestles the valley of Steels Creek, a small shallow basin in the lee of Kinglake plateau and the Great Dividing Range. The escarpment walls of the range drop in a series of ridges to the valley and form the south-eastern boundary of the Kinglake National Park. The gentle undulations that flow out from the valley stretch into the productive and picturesque landscape of Victoria’s famous wine growing district, the Yarra Valley. Late on the afternoon of 7 February 2009, the day that came to be known as Black Saturday, the Kinglake plateau carried a massive conflagration down the fringing ranges into the Steels Creek community. Ten people perished and 67 dwellings were razed in the firestorm. In the wake of the fires, the devastated residents of the valley began the long task of grieving, repairing, rebuilding or moving on while redefining themselves and their community. In Living with Fire, historians Tom Griffiths and Christine Hansen trace both the history of fire in the region and the human history of the Steels Creek valley in a series of essays which examine the relationship between people and place. These essays are interspersed with four interludes compiled from material produced by the community. In the immediate aftermath of the fire many people sought to express their grief, shock, sadness and relief in artwork. Some painted or wrote poetry, while others collected the burnt remains of past treasures from which they made new objects. These expressions, supplemented by historical archives and the essays they stand beside, offer a sensory and holistic window into the community’s contemporary and historical experiences. A deeply moving book, Living with Fire brings to life the stories of one community’s experience with fire, offering a way to understand the past, and in doing so, prepare for the future.
The Black Saturday bushfires killed 173 people - wreaking a greater human toll than any other fire in Australia's history. Ten of those people died in Steels Creek, a small community on Melbourne's outskirts. It was a beautiful place, which its residents had long treasured and loved. By the evening of 7 February 2009, it looked like a battlefield.Prize-winning historian Peter Stanley tells the dramatic stories of this small town on that one terrifying evening - of epic fights to save houses, of escapes, and of deaths. But Black Saturday at Steels Creek also tells the tale of a community - of people's attachments to the valley and to each other - and how, over the weeks and years that followed, they lived with the aftermath of the fire.The most detailed account of any one community to emerge from the fire, Black Saturday at Steels Creek shows what Black Saturday means not only for Steels Creek, but also for Australia as a whole.'The most significant topic in this warming world of ours. An important and deeply moving book.' Adrian Hyland, Author of Kinglake-350'Insightful and comprehensive ... what sets it apart is the coverage of the diverse range of experiences.' Dr Kevin Tolhurst, Senior Bushfire Researcher
Destructive bushfires are increasing in frequency and intensity around the world. For people living in fire prone areas there are no reliable guides about which plants have low flammability and which are frighteningly flammable. Safer Gardens is that guide, with over 500 plants assessed, based on fire research from around the world. Readers can look up a plant in the Plant Flammability Table to get an idea of its flammability then turn to the A–Z for more detailed information. The book contains advice about ways to create a more firesafe garden, including the need to carefully manage the use of mulch and hedges. This is citizen science, written by a gardener for other gardeners. Complex and potentially confusing science is made comprehensible and usable, to help you make your garden and hence your house safer.
In Living with Fire historians Tom Griffiths and Christine Hansen trace both the history of fire in the region and the human history of the Steels Creek valley in a series of essays which examine the relationship between people and place. These essays are interspersed with four interludes compiled from material produced by the community.
After four decades from the 1982 war between Britain and Argentina over possession of the Falklands/Malvinas islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, this book allows for a new and rounded reading of the causes, course and consequences of the war. It provides a comprehensive overview of the Falkland/Malvinas War by integrating the military history of the conflict into the diplomatic, political, social and cultural aspects of the war. Including a substantial body of advocacy, chronicle, narrative and analysis, the volume draws upon an extensive range of published sources, in English and Spanish, primary sources from both sides and unpublished testimonies. The book, written by Argentine and Australian historians and scholars, discuss themes such as the background to the war, the offensive campaign for the islands and the English and Argentine experiences and memories of the war from the perspective of the islanders. Being part of the Wars and Battles of the World series, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of military history, British history, Latin American history, defence and strategic studies, geopolitics and modern history.
Disasters in Australia and New Zealand brings together a collection of essays on the history of disasters in both countries. Leading experts provide a timely interrogation of long-held assumptions about the impacts of bushfires, floods, cyclones and earthquakes, exploring the blurred line between nature and culture, asking what are the anthropogenic causes of ‘natural’ disasters? How have disasters been remembered or forgotten? And how have societies over generations responded to or understood disaster? As climate change escalates disaster risk in Australia, New Zealand and around the world, these questions have assumed greater urgency. This unique collection poses a challenge to learn from past experiences and to implement behavioural and policy change. Rich in oral history and archival research, Disasters in Australia and New Zealand offers practical and illuminating insights that will appeal to historians and disaster scholars across multiple disciplines.
Saturday, 7 February 2009. Truly the worst of days... From dawn, the bush was tinder dry, and hot winds grew and fed off the baked landscape, sucking out every last drop of moisture, whipping sparks from power lines, and stirring up menace and danger. WORST OF DAYS is the behind-the-scenes story of the people who were inside Black Saturday's most deadly firestorm, the Kilmore blaze. It is a powerful and gripping narrative of disaster and resilience, of men and women and children facing the ultimate stress. This is the story of what we do at the very worst of times: from the man who braved the flames to help a mate, to another who refused even to cover the face of a dead man, saying, 'No mate, not my job.' It is the story of officials' bungles and best efforts, towns and their heroes, of survivors, saviours and lost souls.
Exploring widely diverse settingsfrom the wilds of the Australian Outback to urban adventures to biblical landsthis collection of short stories, poems, and other writings celebrates what it is to be Australian. It encompasses love, revenge, debauchery, wonder, loss, and uncertainty, but a common thread of hope emerges from the colourful and eccentric writings of bush author Fairbanks. An elder Aboriginal storyteller regales a group of eager tourists with an ancient story of betrayal, loss, and clever deception by The Old Man in the Mountain. In Tjamiti Ngunytji, an American youth is rescued by a character living in a remote outback Aboriginal community. After the devastating Black Saturday Bushfire destroyed his Victoria home and manuscripts, Fairbanks was inspired to capture the fleeting reflections of such an experience in The Smouldering Stump. Life is, has always been, and will continue to be a complex thing, shaped by friendship and love bonds, ugliness and conflict, anticipation and uncertainty, comedy and joy, tragedy, mystery, and more. Above all, there is hope and beauty for those who look for it. The Old Man in the Mountain and Other Stories celebrates the many threads in the colourful tapestry of life with the quirky, sometimes irreverent Aussie sense of humour.
In Evacuation, Peter Adey examines the politics, aesthetics, and practice of moving people and animals from harm during emergencies. He outlines how the governance and design of evacuation are recursive, operating on myriad political, symbolic, and affective levels in ways that reflect and reinforce social hierarchies. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, from the retrieval of wounded soldiers from the battlefield during World War I and escaping the World Trade Center on 9/11 to the human and animal evacuations in response to the 2009 Australian bushfires and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Adey demonstrates that evacuation is not an equal process. Some people may choose not to move while others are forced; some may even be brought into harm through evacuation. Often the poorest, racialized, and most marginalized communities hold the least power in such moments. At the same time, these communities can generate compassionate, creative, and democratic forms of care that offer alternative responses to crises. Ultimately, Adey contends, understanding the practice of evacuation illuminates its importance to power relations and everyday governance.