The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History (Second Edition)

WINNER of the Nonfiction Award 2020 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature

WINNER of the 2019 NSW Premier's History Award: Australian History Prize

WINNER of the 2019 Prime Minister's Australian History Prize

WINNER of the 2019 CHASS Australia Book Prize

Australian Christian Book of the Year in 2018

In 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

• Publisher.

Publisher Description

'STUNNING, REFRESHING AND ORIGINAL.' -- JULIA BAIRDKoby Abberton emerges like a shark on to the sand at Maroubra Beach. Tattooed from shoulder to shoulder, his body bares letters like teeth: 'My brothers keeper'.In this surprising and revelatory history of the Bible in Australia, Meredith Lake gets under the skin of a text that's been read, wrestled with, preached and tattooed, and believed to be everything from a resented imposition to the very Word of God. 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 contested but defining role in this country.