I have been reading The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, volume one, Van Diemen's 1803-1847 Land by Kieth Windshuttle!
I have been finding him very irritating and a horrible historian (I don't know if this is because I disagree with what he is saying). He also hasn't provided much source material (so far) to support what he is saying, rather he says, Aboriginal sources have told me this..., and he uses 'government records supported by complete sets of almost all contemporary newspapers, plus diaries, letters and submissions from local settlers...there is good evidence about the intentions of the colonial authorities, the attitudes of the settlers and the motives of the Aborigines'
Windshuttle, as an historian fails to recognise the perspective and therefore bias of his sources. Majority of his sources come from white male settlers in power, who would make themselves appear to be just and right.
In my research I have come across many new historians - Manning Clark, Geoffrey Blainey, Paul Husluck and Marilyn Lake.
I am not too sure what my focus question is, but I might concentrate on the myth of Truganini, or I could do the exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders from the ANZAC legend (I don't know if Windshuttle writes much on this but I read about it and found interesting)
I doubt if he writes much about those two things. Maybe read more and write about what he does show an interest in. Anyway... reading is a good start!
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