Author(s): Cate Patterson (Cover Design by, Non-text material selected by, Editor, (various roles)); Doug Patterson ((various roles), Commentaries by, Interviewer, Editor, Introductions and notes by)

Australian

Fifty Years of Boom and Bust is a collection of stories from many different sources that capture Montville's history from 1914 to 1964. The majority were written by members of the Montville History Group (MHG) past and present, based on interviews with those who lived through these times or their families. These are enriched by the memories and reflections of family descendants and friends. As well, several pieces, written by essayists and columnists like Vance Palmer, provide a snapshot of the central Blackall Range as seen from a visitor's perspective. This variety of voices and styles gives Fifty Years of Boom and Bust an authenticity and accessibility often lacking in more academic texts. The stories complement each other and provide a human face to how our small, rural communities survived and adapted to an era of feast and famine, of hope and despair and the beginning of technological change that would herald a new world.