ABSTRACT
The Aboriginal spokespersons complained that this officially endorsed book did not tell their side of the story. Indeed, anticipating possible criticism, its non-Aboriginal author had stated that he did not attempt to present 'Aboriginal history' because he could not write on their behalf. The following year Richard Broome's compassionately written Aboriginal Australians appeared. It provided an excellent general synthesis of existing historical work and made sensitive use of Aboriginal perspectives. For many Aboriginal people, the only 'Aboriginal history' they recognise is that compiled by their own people. There are as yet no general histories of Australia written by Aborigines, and very few publications which claim to be all-encompassing regional histories. Traditionally a history rooted in the soil, 'Aboriginal history', like the very land of Australia, has become, and will continue to be, contested ground. The contest shapes the differing perceptions of what history is, of what the historical questions are.
