From Deserts the Prophets Come: The Creative Spirit in Australia

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]