Archival photographs of Perth have been carefully matched with specially commissioned colour photos to reveal the past and present of this fascinating city. Perth Then and Now accurately matches historic photographs of the city with specially commissioned contemporary views that show how each site looks today. With an Aboriginal history going back over 40,000 years, Perth ranks amongst the oldest places on earth with near continuous human habitation. The modern city came into being in 1829 with the formation of the Swan River Colony. For the first 60 years of its existence, Perth was no more than a small country town which lived on an economic knife-edge between riches and ruin. Then, in the 1890s, commercial quantities of gold were discovered in the North and East of Western Australia. This sparked the first of several mineral booms in the State and resulted in Perth being able to demonstrate its newfound wealth in the form grandiose buildings which transformed the modest town into a fine city. Since the late nineteenth century, a cycle of 'boom and bust' has added successive layers of development to the city's rich tapestry of building styles. As with many cities around the world, Perth witnessed the destruction of many older buildings during the last quarter of the 20th century, but has now learned to respect its heritage, resulting in some spectacular and imaginative adaptive reuses of older buildings. Past and present are laid side by side in this fascinating visual tour around the capital of Western Australia. Sites include: Crawley Baths, Narrows Bridge, King's Park, Cottesloe Beach, T&G Building, Government Gardens, Russell Square, City Beach, St Georges Terrace, Hay Street, HIs Majesty's Theatre, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Arcade, Hotel Metropole, Town Hall, St George's Hall, the WACA, GPO Building, Central Arcade, St Mary's Cathedral, Matilda Bay, Horseshoe Bridge, Swan Brewery.

Author Biography

Richard Offen retired in 2017 after 13 years as executive director of Heritage Perth. During that time he was able to immerse himself in the history of Perth and Western Australia and has helped to dispel the urban myth "Perth has no history". In retirement, he writes, still takes walking tours of the city's historic sites and is a popular lecturer on the subject. Richard also remains a regular broadcaster on both radio and television. He was the co-author of the National Trust book The Living Coast and penned the captions for a book of aerial photographs of the British coast entitled Coastline UK. In his spare time, Richard is on the Board of the Anglican Schools Commission, Deputy Chairman of the Swan Bells Foundation, on the Board of the Young Australia League, Secretary of the Sharpe Trust and a Churchwarden at Christ Church, Claremont.