Historian and author Adjunct Professor Bill Gammage AM returns to his hometown of Wagga Wagga on Thursday 14 May to present a free public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on his 2011 book, The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia. Professor Gammage is a historian at the Australian National University's (ANU) Humanities Research Centre. His book explodes the myth that Australia was an untamed wilderness before 1788 and reveals a complex, country-wide system of land management used by Aboriginal people. It included the use of fire and life cycles of native plants to ensure food supplies throughout the year. Professor Gammage attended Wagga Wagga High School before studying at ANU and lecturing at universities in Papua New Guinea and Adelaide. He is also the author of The Broken Years: Australian Soldiers in the Great War and was an advisor on the 1981 film Gallipoli. He has written and edited several books. In 2005 Professor Gammage was made a Member of the Order of Australia. The public is welcome to attend the free lecture, The Biggest Estate on Earth, from 6pm in the Swan Theatre, building 12, near car park 4, Tooma Way, CSU in Wagga Wagga. The lecture is part of the University's Explorations Series.