Looking from the North

Australian History from the Top Down

Henry Reynolds

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

New South Books
01 November 2025

History; Australasian & Pacific history; History: specific events & topics; Colonialism & imperialism; Indigenous peoples

Henry Reynolds' ground-breaking re-examination of Australian colonisation from the north down.

When acclaimed historian Henry Reynolds moved from Hobart to Townsville to teach Australian history in the 1960s, he discovered the books of the period covered very little about northern Australia and First Nations peoples. After recognising the importance of local history and frontier violence, he ended up transforming Australian history in ways he could never have imagined.

In Looking from the North, Reynolds again turns Australian history on its axis in an exploration of colonisation north of the Tropic of Capricorn. He explores the stories of the European, Chinese, Japanese and Pacific Islander people who were vital to the settlement of the north, along with the experience of First Nations peoples, from employment on stations and as native police, to the land rights and homelands movements.

Reynolds shows how the colonisation of the north, beginning in 1861, was a very different venture to settlement in the south, and argues that it provides important lessons for the world we live in today.

By: Henry Reynolds
Imprint: New South Books
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 135mm,
ISBN: 9781761170119
ISBN 10: 1761170112
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 01 November 2025
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Henry Reynolds' pioneering work has changed the way we see the intertwining of black and white history in Australia. His books with NewSouth include The Other Side of the Frontier (reissue); What's Wrong with Anzac? (as co-author); Forgotten War, which won the Victorian Premier's Award for Non-Fiction; Unnecessary Wars; This Whispering in Our Hearts Revisited; Truth-Telling: History, Sovereignty and the Uluru Statement and most recently Tongerlongeter: First Nations Leader and Tasmanian War Hero (as co-author).