Report of the inquiry into the death of Gordon Michael Semmens Book

Out the gate, this is the best historical text I’ve read all year. I’m by no means an expert on Australian History, but I considered myself to have a relatively serviceable knowledge base particularly about colonisation. Although the analysis of Australian History Reynolds offers clearly aligns with my ‘revisionist’ perspective, there were elements of this book that I still found shocking. The personal nature of the narrative building here makes these stories real, and this history accessible. Although it’s not the most up to date text, Reynolds ideas about colonisation, race relations, remembering, and shame are still painfully current both in an Australian context and in broader colonial contexts. This is an excellent text which asks some of the big questions of colonial History. I loved it.