Wool production is historical, our present and our future. Wool is “lightweight, odour absorbing, thermo regulating and biodegradable” merino wool is the material of the future. The markets are extending worldwide from high-end fashion, to sports wear including footwear. Australian shearers are servicing the future new interest in wool.
The traditional art of shearing and the typical working lives of Australian shearers are the central themes of this thoroughly researched book. The author has travelled extensively in Eastern Australia, visiting shearing sheds, interviewing shearers and weaving their personal histories into an overall examination of this unique occupation. Sections on health and safety, training, family life and the history of the sometimes fraught Australian shearing industry are included. The ambience of the sheep properties and their “sheds” is made more vivid by the inclusion of evocative, heartfelt poems by both the author and by the shearers.