No Need to be Afraid: Italian Settlers in South Australia between 1839 and the Second World War by Desmond O'Connor

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Ex library book with stickers and stamps. Tear to back cover near right foredge. Some general edgewear.

There has been an Italian presence in South Australia almost from the time of the proclamation of the colony.

This is the story of how Italians struggled to earn the right to live and work in the midst of an Anglo-Saxon society. It is a story of fear: the Britishers' fear that the 'swarthy' undesirables would threaten their jobs and their way of life; the fear that Italians would form impenetrable enclaves; and the fear, as the second world war erupted, that Italians might sabotage the war effort and assist the Axis powers to take over Australia.

But, as Bruno Crotti said in a letter to the Adelaide Advertiser in 1937, 'no one need be afraid' of Italians. They came 'determined to better their lot by hard work' and to help on developing their adopted country. (back cover)