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In February 1832 Rev. Lancelot Threlkeld was named as one of the 'perpetual blisters' that the London Missionary Society seemed 'destined to carry'. Threlkeld, from a British working-class family, lobbied his way to NSW to set up the Lake Macquarie mission in colonial New South Wales. Once established, controversies, arguments, tempers and debates abounded, resulting in a very public 'paper war'. This engaging and intelligent book delves into the diverse and voluminous body of texts produced by and about Threlkeld from 1825-41. The Paper War plots the formation of NSW as a modern colonial state and re-examines its morality, politics, Aboriginal relations, language, law and media.