Forging Identities in the Irish World: Melbourne and Chicago, c.1830–1922

Abstract

landers, generating anxieties and even conspiracy theories. Insularity enables not only a better understanding of Wadjemup’s position in relation to the mainland, but in relation to the rest of the world, connected to islands in the Indian Ocean and beyond. The book will appeal to Australian and global audiences, including historians of empire, punishment, gender, migration, and the world wars, as well as to scholars of Indigenous and island studies. It is exceptionally well written, and coheres remarkably well as a single narrative, though each chapter can stand alone. It is worth noting that although the book briefly covers the ‘deep history’ of the island, its chapters are (post)colonial in focus, and the majority cover the nineteenth century when the island operated as a prison. This focus is justified by the importance of the island where 3,700 Aboriginal men and boys were confined between 1838 and 1931 and where one in ten lost their lives, making it the state’s largest site of deaths in custody. This has powerful resonance today when 540 Indigenous prisoners have died in custody in three decades since the 1991 Royal Commission promised change. This book therefore plays a crucial role in raising awareness of Wadjemup/Rottnest’s importance to histories of imperialism and invasion, to a wider, global audience.