From Deserts the Prophets Come The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788–1972 1st Edition by Geoffrey Serle,John Rickard ISBN 192186754X 978-1921867545

 In the early 1970s, Geoffrey Serle presented a series of groundbreaking lectures on Australian cultural history. These lectures became the book From Deserts the Prophets Come, first published in 1973. Serle relates in his preface to the original edition, “I was aiming to cut a new path for teaching and research in Australian history, to bring cultural history into the general discourse of Australian historians, and to bridge the gap between general history and the major works in literary, art, musical, and architectural history which have appeared in recent years.” Serle’s articulation of the particular relations between the arts, politics, economics, and society within Australia, and what he called his “rudimentary attempt at a theory of cultural growth,” remain important. *** The first edition of From Deserts the Prophets Come was the winner of the 1974 National Book Council Award for Australian Literature. (Series: Monash Classics) [Subject: History, Australian Studies, Cultural Studies]

Table of contents:

• About the Author
• Acknowledgements from the First Edition
• Preface
• Introduction by John Rickard

Chapters:

1. Foundations pre-1850
2. Transplantation
3. Later Colonial c.1850–1885
4. The Growth of Culture in Colonies
5. National Inspiration c.1885–
6. Delayed Development c.1900–1930
7. Literature and the National Problem
8. A Coming-of-Age c.1935–1950?
9. Relative Abundance c.1950–1965
10. Contemporary Conclusion

Appendices:

• A Note on Melbourne and Sydney

Bibliography
Index