This essay reviews and responds to two books that revise understandings about Australian history and prehistory. One is 'Deep Time Dreaming' by Billy Griffiths; the other is 'The Sydney Wars' by Stephen Gapps.

Its purpose is to combine academic and aesthetic arguments that show how ill-prepared post-1788 Australians are for recognising the depth and complexity of the pre-contact countries we displaced. Noting that the main response to this ill-preparedness has been ungenerous and literalist, my essay draws out responses predicated on trust and imagination.