She writes with charm and commitment and accuracy. Probably later historians have, or will, challenge some of her statements, but her account has value none the less. She does not claim to be an academic historian and does not provide footnotes or engage in professional debates. As a child and as an adult, she lived on and loved some of the stations which she writes about. Durack uses business and personal records as well as oral interviews and her life-long memories of the stories that “old-timers” told. The book is traditional history, published in 1959, and extremely well researched and written. Like the grass on which it was based, it could disappear in a season of drought or flood. Kings in Grass Palaces was a phrase that Durack’s grandfather used, indicating that while the family sometimes prospered off the lush grasses, their prosperity was never secure. Writing about him and other pioneering friends and relatives, she gives us not only a family story but a useful overview of the history of the western movement of ranchers and settlers into previously unexplored lands. Mary Durack (1913-1994) was the granddaughter of Patrick Durack, who was a leader in the spread of ranching in Australia, first in southwestern Queensland and then in the Kimberly region on the northwest edge of the continent. London : Constable,, c1959.Īn enjoyable, well researched history of the pioneering role Durack’s family played in the expansion of Australian ranching.
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