WINNER of the Nonfiction Award 2020 Adelaide Festival Awards for LiteratureWINNER of the 2019 NSW Premier's History Award: Australian History PrizeWINNER of the 2019 Prime Minister's Australian History PrizeWINNER of the 2019 CHASS Australia Book PrizeAustralian Christian Book of the Year in 2018In this multi-award-winning history of the Bible in Australia, Meredith Lake gets under the skin of a text that's been wrestled with, preached and tattooed, and believed to be everything from a resented imposition to the very Word of God.
A must-read for non-believers and believers alike, The Bible in Australia explores how in the hands of Bible-bashers, immigrants, suffragists, evangelists, unionists, writers, artists and Indigenous Australians, the Bible has played a defining and contested role in this country.
At a time when public discussion of religion is deeply polarised, this multi-award-winning book offers an innovative and surprising new perspective on religion and society. This new edition, including a preface that discusses the life of the book since its 2018 publication, shows that in the hands of writers, artists, settlers, immigrants, Bible-bashers, wowsers, evangelists, suffragettes, unionists, Indigenous activists and many others — the Bible has played a defining role in Australia.
'Stunning, refreshing and original.' — Julia Baird
'Vivid story-telling and impossible to put down.' — Mark McKenna
'A book of remarkable originality…a ground-breaking cultural and social history.' — Judges' comments, 2019 NSW Premier's History Award: Australian History Prize
'An endlessly fascinating book…Lake brings a generosity of both mind and spirit to this vast story.' — Michael McGirr, Sydney Morning Herald
