I've been to Uluru (after it was returned to the indigenous people for whom it was sacred land. I have read several fictional and nonfiction books about government treatment of aboriginal people of Australia. Return to Uluru is about a policeman, Bill McKinnon, who served many years in Australia's outback. In 1934, he killed an aboriginal man who was unarmed. The man was one of several people McKinnon was transporting in connection with a murder. McKenna, the author, is a well-regarded history professor who has published a number of well-received books. My observation is that this is in fact a fascinating story and McKinnon is a terrific bad guy who got away with this killing and mistreatment and abuse of aboriginal people over many years, always being treated as credible when everyone knew he was out of control. What he did seems to have been relatively common and when he got caught he got off. The photographs were great. The idea of focusing on the officer as a way of framing how the indigenous people in the area were driven from their lands, disrespected, abused and killed-- which was both implicitly and explicitly sanctioned by the government was also a good one. If McKenna, while sticking to accurate, well-researched material could just write a story that flowed, I'd have loved this. it's at best a 3.5 because his writing is dry, stilted and frankly disorganized. It's like he had all the material. He did bang up research and he just didn't pull off a good read. This would have made a better article.

I had never heard of or come across this story before, even though I’m a true crime junkie. It was an interesting case but just don’t know if it came across as such. Having said that I would love to find a documentary on the story as parts of the book were written strangely to the point it was often confusing.

This is one of the hardest reviews I have ever had to write. The reason is because Mark McKenna is a good writer and there are at least 3 plot threads which are absolute dynamite, The problem is none of these threads are expounded upon enough to leave the reader feeling satisfied.

Return to Uluru is about Australian Policeman Bill McKinnon and his killing (or murder?) of an Aboriginal man named Yokununna. Ultimately, I think McKenna wanted to shine a light on this killing and prove it was a murder. However, there is not enough material here to make that statement. There is a plot line about the extreme racism Aborigines face in Australia. As an American, I knew very little about the subject. Unfortunately, I don't feel much more enlightened.

Another example is McKenna's interviews with the descendants of McKinnon. His way of talking with them shows he is both committed to his work but compassionate at the same time. I could have read a whole book by McKenna on just these meetings but here we just get a chapter and then it's over. I was left wanting so much more, but in a bad way, not a good way.

I would read another book by McKenna because I can see a skilled writer with a keen eye. However, Return to Uluru is not focused enough to be a must read.

(This book was provided to me by Netgalley and Penguin Group. The full review will be posted to HistoryNerdsUnited.com on 8/9/2022.)

An actual shooting at Uluru is the basis of this cold case murder story recounted in Return to Uluru by Australian historian Mark McKenna. Beginning with the significance of the arid desolate outback of central Australia, it contrasts white experience with the Indigenous spirituality of the land. Constable McKinnon shot an indigenous man in an Uluru cave in late 1934 and despite a questionable record of treatment towards blacks, was cleared of murder despite two enquiries and a parliamentary review. McKenna uses Uluru as a portent for understanding the treatment of our first nation peoples and the tragic record of the so-called white man’s justice. He contextualises the cruelty, religious hypocrisy and the failure to comprehend the significant cultural law of tribal justice. With an overarching comprehensive analysis, great photographs and original documents, comes an easy to read four-star must-read rating. The broader ramifications of this historic event and link to the Uluru Statement from the Heart are also noted, as is the family experience of dealing with an Australian icon who encapsulates the myth of white settlement.

Uluru was home to one of the harshest and most reprehensible cases of crime in Australia, and arguably in the world. The presence of racism and white supremacism, which led to an outrageous chain of events in which even the authorities refused to classify it as murder, is a crude mirror of situations that are still present in our society.

I only recommend books that I have read and enjoyed. I don't know if the last word is the most appropriate, but I feel that this is a very deep and critical reading, about real crime and problems that many prefer not to touch. Everything from the investigation and impeccable journalism.

The work in this book is visceral and rigorous. With important visual contributions and giving enough context, both for people who already knew the case and for those who do not, this is an impeccable and well-structured story that provides much-needed insights today.

What a fascinating investigation. The horrors of white supremacy recounted within are disturbing, and shed light on the struggles that continue today. The systemic racism is still present in the individual police I've encountered. Having visited Uluru 7-8 times, I enjoyed the creation stories and personal tales from the custodians and their descendants. This is a thoroughly researched and well-presented work. It should be a must-read for all white Australians.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC!

I have to admit, my knowledge of Australian history is kind of...er, nonexistent, but Mark McKenna's fantastic book is a brilliant and disturbing portrait of the abuse of the native peoples of the continent and modern efforts at reconciliation.

The book begins with a portrait of Bill McKinnon, a police officer hailed through most of the 20th century as a hero, but who was in reality a murderous individual whose crimes were never truly acknowledged by the Australian authorities. The most documented hint of his brutal treatment of the Indigenous people was the murder of Yokununna, committed at Uluru, a giant geological formation and one of the most important sacred locations for the original inhabitants of the land.

McKinnon's report of the circumstances of Yokununna's death were, given his track record, suspect. (The treatment of Yokunnuna's remains was also atrocious--his skull was literally kept in a box in a university basement.) McKenna's book explores what actually led to Yokununna's murder and the aftermath of the crime, including the effects on his family, community, and Australian culture to this day.

An excellent, touching, and at times shocking work. Highly recommend!

"McKinnon was the dogged soldier on the front line of an entire structure that sanctioned invasion and dispossession. The injustice of what took place at Uluru in 1934 was one graphic example of a much larger injustice perpetrated against the Aboriginal people of Australia that continues to this day." This book, though a little dry and full of detail, pulls you in to the injustice that the white men try to take from the aboriginals. In the 1930s, having to rely on camels and walking, Uluru/Ayers Rock is discovered and it is there that McKinnon murders Yokununna. The book spans the generation documenting McKinnons long notorious career as well as returning Uluru to the rightful owners of the land.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Originally published with Library Journal. Thanks LJ and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

In 1934, an unarmed Aboriginal Australian man named Yokununna was shot and killed by a white police officer, William McKinnon, in the caves of Uluru (Ayers Rock). Through the lens of this murder, McKenna (history, Univ. of Sydney; An Eye for Eternity) examines the history of Central Australia and the treatment of Aboriginal people by white colonizers. This thorough investigation looks into racism past and present and Aboriginal peoples’ efforts to restore Uluru to a sacred space. McKenna holds nothing back in his account; it’s a refreshingly honest and blunt look at history. Likewise, this book provides a close-up examination of how historical racist laws are impacting present generations of Australians. This history is specific to Australia, but American readers have much to gain from it; there are many similarities to the treatment of Indigenous Americans and Black Americans throughout history.

VERDICT Honest and thought-provoking, this book takes a hard look at some uncomfortable truths in Australia’s history. Recommended for anyone wanting to examine racism, colonialism, and their continued effects.

The events in this book are an important part of the history of Australia, and it connects in important ways to the history and present moment of race relations both in Australia and elsewhere in the world. The killing retold in the book and the failure to recognize it as a murder for many years reflects both historical and present-day devaluing of indigenous people and the lives of people of color. The events also occurred at Uluru, an iconic place in Australia, and one that itself is bound up in the unfortunate history of race relations in Australia. This should be an intense and gripping story, and as told here, some of it is. But the writing is at times too discursive and repetitive, making it a more difficult read than it should be. The author also missed an opportunity to explore in greater depth the way in which this event reflects the sorry history of police treatment of people—particularly men—of color. This is an important story to know—I just wish the whole retelling was as interesting and engaging as the better parts of it.