"In colonial Australia manners marked the difference between savagery and civilisation, between vulgarity and refinement. Colonists recoiled in shock and confusion at the customs of Indigenous Australians, but they also sensed the savagery lurking in white society. Manners mattered, to individuals and to society. Original and compelling, Savage or Civilised? is the story of behaviour, respect and manners in colonial Australia."--Publisher's description.