Surveying the Wild Abyss

"I am convinced that this is not only one of the greatest studies of Australian settler colonialism, but about colonialism in general." Justin Clemens

In this ground-breaking history of colonisation and frontier conflict in the Hawkesbury region, historian Barry Corr navigates the gaps and silences in colonial records primary sources to reveal settler amnesia, the cataclysmic nature of colonisation and the way history is remembered or not remembered.  This book is deeply informed by Corr's perspectives, as well as community connections as a First Nations person who has lived most of his life in the Blue Mountains and north-western Sydney.

'Surveying the Wild Abyss' reinvents the way Australian history is written and asks us to consider what the future might look like.

Pages: 448

Published: July 2026