The Sydney Wars

'The Sydney Wars' tells the history of early military engagements between Europeans and First Nations peoples around the greater Sydney region.

Winner of the Les Carlyon Literary Prize

Analysing the paramilitary roles of settlers and convicts and the militia defensive systems that were deployed, it shows that white settlers lived in fear, while First Nations peoples fought back as their land and resources were taken away. Stephen Gapps details the violent conflict that formed part of a long period of colonial strategic efforts to secure the Sydney basin and, in time, the rest of the continent.

"The Sydney Wars is a valuable contribution to the way we understand both the history of the early years of British settlement in Sydney and the way we consider Australian origins." Dictionary of Sydney

Pages: 432, Paperback

Published: 2018