New book explores the hidden past of Australia’s towns and places

Do you know that Byron Bay was once a rough industrial town, thronging with the sounds and smells of mineral sand mining, a piggery and a thriving whaling station? Many of Australia’s best-loved locations have an interesting story about their origin and a fascinating new book uncovers some of the most interesting.

In the new release Where History Happened (NLA Publishing $39.99), author Peter Spearritt reveals the hidden past of some of Australia’s most intriguing towns and places, from mining settlements and remote caves to monuments and historic houses in our capital cities. The book contains stories of famous pioneers, warriors, troublemakers, writers, leaders and entrepreneurs, as well as lesser-known Australians who carved out interesting lives in remote places.

Spearritt identifies the most interesting details, monuments and buildings that the reader can visit today (places he himself has visited), revealing the hidden history scattered around Australia. The book also contains beautiful images from the collection of the National Library of Australia, including works by renowned photographers Frank Hurley, Wolfgang Sievers and Peter Dombrovskis, colonial watercolours and sketches, newspaper cartoons, early black-and-white photographs and bold, colourful tourism posters from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

A mix of social, architectural, military, political and industrial history, Where History Happened provides a fascinating insight into the origin of some of the most beloved towns and locations across Australia.

Additional Information

• Covers all of Australia, from the southern tip of Tasmania to far north Queensland to Rottnest Island
• Lavishly illustrated with colourful tourism posters; drawings and paintings; and photographs of buildings, interiors, sweeping landscapes and key historical events

About the Author

Peter Spearritt's taste for places and landscapes started with family car trips from Melbourne to Brisbane in the 1950s, when car ferries made for a picturesque but long trip. Moving to Sydney in 1960, he left a city with a flourishing tramway network for a city that had got rid of its trams but did boast a really impressive bridge. His The Sydney Harbour Bridge: A Life is now in its third edition, while Sydney's Century: A History won the New South Wales Premier's Prize. Together with colleagues at the University of Queensland and Monash University, he has produced the Queensland Places and Victorian Places websites. He has been to all the places he writes about in Where History Happened and hopes his readers will contemplate their own special places.