1835: The Founding of Melbourne & the Conquest of Australia

Winner of the 2012 Age Book of the Year Award and the 2013 Tasmania Book Prize

With the founding of Melbourne in 1835, a flood of settlers began spreading out across the Australian continent. In three years more land – and more people – was conquered than in the preceding fifty.

In 1835 James Boyce brings this pivotal moment to life. He traces the power plays in Hobart, Sydney and London, and describes the key personalities of Melbourne’s early days. He conjures up the Australian frontier – its complexity, its rawness and the way its legacy is still with us today. And he asks the poignant question largely ignored for 175 years: could it have been different?

With his first book, Van Diemen’s Land, Boyce introduced an utterly fresh approach to the nation’s history. “In re-imagining Australia’s past,” Richard Flanagan wrote, “it invents a new future.” 1835 continues this untold story.

‘Anyone who calls Melbourne home – in fact anyone who calls Australia home – should read this book.’ —Peter Mares

‘An eloquent and thought-provoking book.’ —Australian Book Review

‘1835 is the best book on Australian history I have read since Van Diemen’s Land. James Boyce is on a roll.’ —Good Reading

Shortlisted, 2012 Prime Minister’s Literary Award
Shortlisted, 2011 West Australian Premier’s Book Awards
Shortlisted, 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards
Shortlisted, 2012 Queensland Literary Awards

James Boyce is the multiple award-winning author of Born Bad, 1835 and Van Diemen’s Land. He has a PhD from the University of Tasmania, where he is an honorary research associate of the School of Geography and Environmental Studies.