Summary

Girt. No word could better capture the essence of Australia…

Girt. No word could better capture the essence of Australia…

In this hilarious history, David Hunt reveals the truth of Australia’s past, from megafauna to Macquarie – the cock-ups and curiosities, the forgotten eccentrics and Eureka moments that have made us who we are.

Girt introduces forgotten heroes like Mary McLoghlin, transported for the crime of “felony of sock”, and Trim the cat, who beat a French monkey to become the first animal to circumnavigate Australia. It recounts the misfortunes of the escaped Irish convicts who set out to walk from Sydney to China, guided only by a hand-drawn paper compass, and explains the role of the coconut in Australia’s only military coup.

Our nation’s beginnings are steeped in the strange, the ridiculous and the frankly bizarre. Girt proudly reclaims these stories for all of us.

Not to read it would be un-Australian.

Comments

Girt by David Hunt is a different approach to presenting the history orfAustralia. There has been an incredible amount of research done by the author but, unfortunately, the style did not resonate with us. We found the writing to be demeaning, negative, flippant and condescending. In an attempt to be comedic or ironic, we felt the author trivialised women and gave no dignity to the people who forged our society. The only people who seemed to be presented positively were the ‘currency kids’ who are portrayed as hardworking and healthier than those who went before them, although they didn’t appear to value their own self worth.

The book felt very self indulgent and is not one that we would recommend.

Read by MJ Readers