Valley of Wealth: Burragorang Coal Story
Australian History Economic History Environmental History Oral History Memoir & Biography Coal & Mining History Labour & Working-Class History Local & Regional History
Valley of Wealth: Burragorang Coal Story is the only book that tells the full, human story of the Burragorang Valley—once a fertile farming paradise southwest of Sydney that was transformed into Australia’s most secretive coal-field. Ian Welsh, whose family lived through the upheaval, combines memoir, oral history and meticulous research to follow the valley from the 1840s to the 2000s: the discovery of rich coal seams beneath peach orchards, the forced evictions that emptied the valley in the 1950s, the rise of the state-owned mines, and the billion-dollar profits that still power New South Wales today. Along the way readers meet the miners, farmers, activists and politicians who fought over the valley’s future, making the book an intimate record of Australian working life as well as a case-study in resource politics.
What makes this 2006 first-edition paperback so collectable is its wealth of never-before-published material. Welsh interviewed more than 200 former residents and mine workers, accessed restricted company files and matched their stories to 80 rare photographs, maps and diagrams reproduced in the book. The result is a gripping narrative that reads like a novel yet is grounded in hard data—production figures, wage ledgers, environmental reports—giving scholars, genealogists and local-history buffs a single source that covers geology, labour history, community memory and environmental impact. Young adults studying Australian history or environmental science will find the clear explanations and first-person voices an accessible entry-point to bigger questions about land use, energy policy and corporate responsibility.
For collectors, the illustrated format and regional focus mean comparatively small print-runs; clean copies with tight bindings are already scarce. This copy is unmarked inside, with all maps and photos present and sharp, making it ideal for reference or display. Whether you’re tracing family roots in the Illawarra, researching Australia’s coal dependence, or simply want a compelling true story of how a valley of dairy farms became a powerhouse of industry, Valley of Wealth delivers a uniquely Australian blend of personal drama and economic history that stays with you long after the last page.
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