Promised Land: From Dunedin to the Dunstan goldfields
by Grahame Sydney, Penguin Books,
$45
This is an attractive history of the Central Otago area depicting the ''gold rush'' of around the 1860s, presented with historical photographs, paintings and sketches as well as beautiful contemporary photos by Sydney.
The feelings of the miners and
early settlers who came to the land in search of wealth are recorded as excerpts from their diaries and newspapers. Sydney adds an historic overview of the impact of the gold rush on the land, the miners and those at the periphery of the industry.
The author has a passion for the area that comes through easily rather than pedantically.
The book is generally an informative read, giving access to a way of life and the attitudes and values of the time.
A minor quibble, as The Promised overall is well presented and put together, is that I did come across the occasional typo and repetition of lines.
Sydney obviously cares for the fragile environment of the beautiful but harsh land-desiring its preservation rather than exploitation. But given the present government's stated objectives to plunder resources ''where there is low ecological values'', he may be disappointed.
