Coast : A History of the New South Wales Edge

From Eden to Byron Bay, the New South Wales coast is more than 1,000 miles long, with 130 estuaries, 100 coastal lakes, and a rich history. In this, the first history written of the New South Wales coast, historian Ian Hoskins traces the relationship between the residents of the coast and this particular stretch of land and sea over the course of millennia, from the earliest Aboriginal inhabitants who feasted on shellfish and perfected the art of building canoes to the modern-day obsession with the beach as a place to live or vacation. Among the topics explored in this captivating study are the European fascination with marine life, the attempts to establish a whaling industry, the fear of a seaborne invasion which led to the creation of the Australian navy, and the rise of modern Australia's seemingly unstoppable enthusiasm for surfing and fishing. As Hoskins analyzes these and other subjects, he argues that the current enthrallment with the coast began more recently than might be imagined.