Melbourne After The Gold Rush
Australian History Local History Social History Reference Adult Education Economic History Urban Studies
Michael Cannon’s Melbourne After The Gold Rush is the definitive hard-cover reference that picks up where the glitter of the 1850s left off, tracing how Victoria’s capital turned tent-city chaos into the most dynamic metropolis in the South Pacific. First published in 1993 and now scarce in nice condition, this 490-page illustrated volume shows how gold wealth funded grand boulevards, introduced the first cable trams, financed the grandstanding Parliament House and created a society that imported Chartist ideals and transported convicts side-by-side. Readers discover forgotten details—how grog shops gave way to coffee palaces, how land-boom speculators built entire suburbs on credit, and how the legacy of those heady decades still shapes Melbourne’s laneways and architecture today.
Collectors prize this edition for its exceptionally clean, tight-block pages and the original pictorial dust jacket that still gleams on the shelf. Generously illustrated with rare archival photographs, maps and advertising ephemera, the book acts as both a compelling narrative and a ready-reference for heritage walks, genealogy projects and classroom study. Young-adult and adult learners appreciate Cannon’s journalistic style: footnoted facts and primary sources delivered in fast-paced chapters rather than academic jargon. Whether you’re a historian, teacher, or family tracing Victorian roots, this single volume answers the next logical question after the gold fields—what happened when the rush ended and real life in Melbourne began?
Because later impressions are print-on-demand, a first-edition hard-cover in very-good condition—light jacket scuffing only, no ex-library marks, no inscriptions, no dog-eared pages—has become surprisingly collectible. Secure this copy now to own the authoritative, out-of-print account of how gold transformed a frontier town into Australia’s most cultured city.
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