Very few country towns, in the course of their centenary celebrations, have experienced the intense interest that has been aroused in St Arnaud and district by the preparation of this book. And for any community to find in its midst, not only so unusual a degree of public interest, but also a historian skilled in both investigation and literary presentation, must be even rarer. St Arnaud has, indeed been doubly fortunate. The fortunes of this prosperous community, whose origins go back to the excitement of the New Bendigo gold-rush, gleaned from an unusual wealth of reminiscences, diaries, letters, newspapers and photograph albums, are now placed permanently on record in this fascinating narrative.