BACK ON THE WOOL TRACK Tracing the footsteps of C.E.W. Bean by Michelle Grattan

A great and scarce Australian travel book: the author traces the 1909 outback journey by historian Charles Bean. This is a used book in good condition: clean with only light wear and age. See photos for cover blurb, sample pages and condition - the book in the photos is the actual book you will receive - enjoy!

n 1909, journalist and war historian Charles Bean travelled to Western New South Wales and wrote a series of articles ln the wool industry. His writings were later published as On The Wool Track, which went on to become an Australian classic.

Now, almost a hundred yeas later, eminent journalist Michelle Grattan traces Bean's footsteps and paints a fascinating picture of the Western Division in 21st century Australia.

Like Bean, whose descriptions brought to life the characters who inhabited the harsh, arid region, Back on the Wool Track is about people.

Grattan visits the wool country and tracks down decendents of those Bean met during his travels. She visits the once-grand stations, encounters a flourishing art market in Broken Hill and observes modern shearers doing an old job in a new world.

Young people might be leaving the West, but urbanites are settling there, drawn by the tranquility - and the price of real estate. And of course there are the folk who have never left, who can trace their links to the region back to the 19th century. As one long-time resident says; " Even if you left this land, it would never leave you."

As Bean brought the outback to his city readers in 1909, Grattan interprets the Far West for contemporary Australians. Back on the Wool Track is a vivid and sensitive portrayal of what Bean described as 'this delicate country that responds like a piano to whatever touched it'.

"A superb set of snapshots of today and yesterday down the Darling and beyond 'the back of Bourke'...these first-hand observations are a timely and vital resource." - Tim Fischer

Book Details

Code: SKU474

Condition: See notes and photos below

Binding: Paperback

Pages: 335

Published: 2004 by Vintage

ISBN: 1740511670

Postage: $6.90

Price: AUD $9.00