• A theatre of stages; Part I: 1. Rationing the inexplicable; 2. Rationed actors; Part II: 3. Rural central Australia, 1914–40; 4. Town, cash and supervision; 5. 'A Christian cannot be a parasite'; 6. The World War in town and hinterland; Conclusion: Indigenous welfare at mid-century; Part III: 7. 'Assimilation; 8. The crisis of managed consumption; 9. Settlements and families; 10. Alice Springs and its town camps; Continuities.

'… innovative and meticulously researched … this is a challenging study in historical anthropology'. The Australian

• A theatre of stages; Part I: 1. Rationing the inexplicable; 2. Rationed actors; Part II: 3. Rural central Australia, 1914–40; 4. Town, cash and supervision; 5. 'A Christian cannot be a parasite'; 6. The World War in town and hinterland; Conclusion: Indigenous welfare at mid-century; Part III: 7. 'Assimilation; 8. The crisis of managed consumption; 9. Settlements and families; 10. Alice Springs and its town camps; Continuities.

'… innovative and meticulously researched … this is a challenging study in historical anthropology'. The Australian

• A theatre of stages; Part I: 1. Rationing the inexplicable; 2. Rationed actors; Part II: 3. Rural central Australia, 1914–40; 4. Town, cash and supervision; 5. 'A Christian cannot be a parasite'; 6. The World War in town and hinterland; Conclusion: Indigenous welfare at mid-century; Part III: 7. 'Assimilation; 8. The crisis of managed consumption; 9. Settlements and families; 10. Alice Springs and its town camps; Continuities.

'… innovative and meticulously researched … this is a challenging study in historical anthropology'. The Australian