A landmark history of Australia's first successful settler farming area, which was on the Hawkesbury-Nepean River. Award-winning historian Grace Karskens uncovers the everyday lives of ordinary people in the early colony, both Aboriginal and British.

Winner of the NSW Premier's Australian History Prize 2021

Co-winner of the Ernest Scott Prize for History 2021

Shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Australian History 2021