La Trobe: The Life and Times of the First Governor of Victoria

Charles Joseph La Trobe—superintendent, sketcher, reluctant celebrity—shaped Victoria through its wildest transformation from squatter's outpost to goldfield frenzy. This biography captures the complexity of a cultured European trying to govern a colony that wouldn't sit still, navigating Aboriginal dispossession, civic chaos, and his own quiet ambitions. It's colonial Australia through the eyes of the man who had to make sense of it all. Perfect for history buffs, Melburnians curious about their city's foundations, and anyone fascinated by the messy reality of nation-building.