What is believed to be Australia’s largest regional history published by a Shire was launched recently by the Mayor of Chinchilla, Councillor Bill McCutcheon. The twin volume Chinchilla history books, Footsteps Through Time, was written by leading Australian author and historian, Dr Tony Matthews.
“This is the most comprehensive history of Chinchilla that has ever been written,” Dr Matthews said. “It is a total of 620,000 words which makes it more than ten times the size of the previous Chinchilla history book published during the 1960s. Additionally, the history includes more than 500 carefully researched photographs, many of which have been restored in order to allow them to be published for the first time.” Chinchilla Shire Librarian, Judith Bell, said that the books are a superb production — extremely attractive and written in an appealing style.
“They manage to convert dry historical facts into a riveting tale,” she said. “They contain excellent chronologies and indices which make a librarian’s heart glad, and the depth of coverage will serve the Chinchilla Shire amply for many years to come.”
Both volumes of Dr Matthews’ history are extensively indexed so that readers can easily look up family names or events and the publication includes an attractive colour section of photographs depicting the Chinchilla of today.
Dr Matthews said that many councils in Australia have published regional histories but all too often the resulting publications have not done justice to the depth and complexity of those regions. He said that councils needed to allocate the necessary level of funding to have full and detailed histories of their area researched and written.
The book launch was extremely successful with $16,000 worth of books being sold in just over two hours and sales are now strongly continuing.
Copies of the book are available through the Chinchilla Shire Council, on (07) 4662 7056. Dr Matthews can be contacted on (07) 4661 4573 or email matthews@halenet.com.au
