Settlements of the Doomed: History's Forsaken Camps and Communes

by Ed Wright

Settlement of the Doomed highlights some of history's lesser known colonial stories, in twelve brief, riveting and informative stories from across the globe.History they say is written by the winners. We read about the first settlers arriving in Sydney Cove with modern icon the Opera House in our minds. But the world is scattered with the remnants of other, forgotten settlements. Here in Settlements of the Doomed are twelve tales from the annals of history’s many failures that have as much to tell us about human nature as anything that smacks of success.All titles in the Short History The Clash of History's TitansFame & InfamyTurning the Tide of BattleObscure Events that Shaped the WorldThe War of WordsWhen the World Stood StillSettlements of the DoomedScandalgateJourneys of DiscoveryAmazons & HellcatsBroadswords, Bayonetes and B-52sGood Girls Don't Make History

Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

Reviews

[Jas · Rating 2 out of 5]

A melodramatic title for a Eurocentric and poorly edited short collection. Wright often refers to "local tribespeople" even when this is highly inappropriate for the context. There is no look into the lives of slaves who live in some of these settlements - he mentions "runaways" and doesn't care about how they survived in these locales. If the thrust of this is that majority of settlers were bad colonisers, then I would assume a logical position would be postcolonial. Instead he falls into the same old tales of the frontier we've heard before, and have outworn their welcome.

A highlight of the editing was a sentence containing "while" twice.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this whole little series of books. A great amount of information but concise enough to not be too bogged down - a perfect amount to motivate you to research more in depth information if you desire!

[Roger Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little book i got second hand for $1 at the local op-shop. Very entertainingly written and full of interesting info. This was surprisingly good.

[Hilde Helseth · Rating 4 out of 5]

'A book with the major theme of survival'

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has the most misleading name. Terrible title. Good book!