Author(s): Storry Walton

AUSTRALIANA

Among all the 19th and 20th century stories of settlement around the world, Australia's experience of its vast interior was one of the toughest. Few environments resisted the incursion of settlers so implacably and were so routinely perilous and fatal. It bred a sinewy people, hardened by severity and tragedy, made resilient with wit and grit and, as generations were born into it, deeply imbued with a love of its terrible grandeur and beauty. At the Very Heart draws together words and images of these people who forged this mystical union with the land over a span of 100 years - the people who live and work across Australia's farthest horizons, together with the staff of the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) and its successor Frontier Services, who have devotedly served remote families and provided vital services which they would not otherwise have received.