Black Summer

Told by the ABC reporters who were on the ground and broadcasting during our worst ever fire season, and edited by Michael Rowland

The bushfires that burnt across Australia from June 2019 to February 2020 were unprecedented. By the time the rains came, they had devoured more than 18 million hectares of bush and farm land, destroyed nearly 3000 homes, claimed the lives of 34 people, killed about a billion animals and driven more to the brink of extinction. The heartbreak, pain, loss and uncertainty were felt far and wide. These were fires that affected nearly everyone along the east coast of the country directly or indirectly, and touched the hearts of people everywhere.

But out of the tragedies, the fear, the lost homes, the burnt forests, the bleak holidays, the unrelenting smoke have come stories of courage and community. ABC reporters on the ground during the crises brought many of these stories into homes across the nation. This book contains...