The Lives and Legacies of a Carceral Island: A Biographical History of Wadjemup/Rottnest Island by Ann Curthoys, Shino Konishi and Alexandra Ludewig

Book Description

Secondhand. As new condition.

This book is a biographical history of Rottnest Island, a small carceral island offshore from Western Australia. Rottnest is also known as Wadjemup, or "the place across the water where the spirits are", by Noongar, the Indigenous people of south-western Australia.

Through a series of biographical case studies of the diverse individuals connected to the island, the book argues that their particular histories lend Rottnest Island a unique heritage in which Indigenous, maritime, imperial, colonial, penal, and military histories intersect with histories of leisure and recreation. Tracing how Wadjemup/Rottnest Island has been continually re-imagined and re-purposed throughout its history, the text explores the island's carceral history, which has left behind a painful community memory.

Biographies:

1. Willem de Vlamingh: Explorer, 1696–1697