Robyn Annear

Robyn Annear was a volunteer on an archaeological dig in central Melbourne ten years ago. She is author of Bearbrass: Imagining Early Melbourne and Nothing But Gold: The Diggers of 1852.

Robyn Annear reviews 'The Birth of Sydney' edited by Tim Flannery and 'Buried Alive, Sydney 1788-92: Eyewitness accounts of the making of a nation' by Jack Egan

April 2000, no. 219 • 01 April 2000

List of essentials for a trip to Sydney in 2000: airline ticket, style-repellent, a buddy at SOCOG, rather a lot of money, and, uh-oh, excess baggage alert. I’m afraid these two big paperbacks are a must. With the Olympics looming, an outbreak of books about Sydney was inevitable. But fear not, discerning readers. Jack Egan and Tim Flannery’s tributes to Australia’s first city are not the qu ... (read more)

Robyn Annear reviews 'Inside the Rocks: The archaeology of a neighbourhood' by Grace Karskens

September 1999, no. 214 • 01 September 1999

On getting hold of Grace Karskens’s new book, I went straight to the colour plates of artefacts resurrected from the neighbourhood of the title, part of the historic Rocks area of inner Sydney. I love to look at salvage: pieced-together dinner plates, dolls’ heads, and brass buckles and buttons whose verdigris defies any amount of elbow grease. But the photo that really grabbed me was of a dug ... (read more)