Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags

Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags PDF Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761185586
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
An incredible collection of true crime characters from Australia's master storyteller. The bold, the bad, and the slightly mad... Criminality, some say, is part of Australia's national identity, and in Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags Jim Haynes profiles fifteen larger-than-life Aussie rogues - some of our greatest ne'er-do-wells from colonial times to the modern era. These stories uncover the truth and expose the myths about characters ranging from the most despicable examples of humanity, to those whose courage has to be admired and whose so-called 'crimes' were unjustly punished. This fascinating collection features felons who have sprung from Australia's underbelly since 1788, such as the infamous Kate Leigh of the razor gangs; the convict Mary Bryant, who in 1791 escaped from the Sydney penal settlement and somehow made it back to England; James Hardy Vaux, who was sent to Australia no less than three times; Henry James O'Farrell, the madman who attempted to murder Prince Alfred in Sydney in 1868; and John Leak, who was repeatedly charged with insolence, disobedience and being absent without leave in World War I - and awarded the Victoria Cross. Told with Jim's inimitable combination of history and humour, Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags is packed with murders, mystery and miscreants: true stories of true criminals from Australia's past. 'entertaining . . . highly readable . . . you will find some genuinely amazing new facts and insights.' ArtsHub

Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags

Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags PDF Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761185586
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Get Book Here

Book Description
An incredible collection of true crime characters from Australia's master storyteller. The bold, the bad, and the slightly mad... Criminality, some say, is part of Australia's national identity, and in Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags Jim Haynes profiles fifteen larger-than-life Aussie rogues - some of our greatest ne'er-do-wells from colonial times to the modern era. These stories uncover the truth and expose the myths about characters ranging from the most despicable examples of humanity, to those whose courage has to be admired and whose so-called 'crimes' were unjustly punished. This fascinating collection features felons who have sprung from Australia's underbelly since 1788, such as the infamous Kate Leigh of the razor gangs; the convict Mary Bryant, who in 1791 escaped from the Sydney penal settlement and somehow made it back to England; James Hardy Vaux, who was sent to Australia no less than three times; Henry James O'Farrell, the madman who attempted to murder Prince Alfred in Sydney in 1868; and John Leak, who was repeatedly charged with insolence, disobedience and being absent without leave in World War I - and awarded the Victoria Cross. Told with Jim's inimitable combination of history and humour, Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags is packed with murders, mystery and miscreants: true stories of true criminals from Australia's past. 'entertaining . . . highly readable . . . you will find some genuinely amazing new facts and insights.' ArtsHub

Sober Curious

Sober Curious PDF Author: Ruby Warrington
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062869051
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Would life be better without alcohol? It’s the nagging question more and more of us are finding harder to ignore, whether we have a “problem” with alcohol or not. After all, we yoga. We green juice. We meditate. We self-care. And yet, come the end of a long work day, the start of a weekend, an awkward social situation, we drink. One glass of wine turns into two turns into a bottle. In the face of how we care for ourselves otherwise, it’s hard to avoid how alcohol really makes us feel… terrible. How different would our lives be if we stopped drinking on autopilot? If we stopped drinking altogether? Really different, it turns out. Really better. Frank, funny, and always judgment free, Sober Curious is a bold guide to choosing to live hangover-free, from Ruby Warrington, one of the leading voices of the new sobriety movement. Drawing on research, expert interviews, and personal narrative, Sober Curious is a radical take down of the myths that keep so many of us drinking. Inspiring, timely, and blame free, Sober Curious is both conversation starter and handbook—essential reading that empowers readers to transform their relationship with alcohol, so we can lead our most fulfilling lives.

Wasted

Wasted PDF Author: Elspeth Muir
Publisher: Text Publishing
ISBN: 1925095134
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
In 2009 Elspeth Muir’s youngest brother, Alexander, finished his last university exam and went out with some mates on the town. Later that night he wandered to the Story Bridge. He put his phone, wallet, T-shirt and thongs on the walkway, climbed over the railing, and jumped thirty metres into the Brisbane River below. Three days passed before police divers pulled his body out of the water. When Alexander had drowned, his blood-alcohol reading was almost five times the legal limit for driving. Why do some of us drink so much, and what happens when we do? Fewer young Australians are drinking heavily, but the rates of alcohol abuse and associated problems—from blackouts to sexual assaults and one-punch killings—are undiminished. Intimate and beautifully told, Wasted illuminates the sorrows, and the joys, of drinking. Elspeth Muir is a Brisbane author whose writing has appeared in the Lifted Brow, The Best of the Lifted Brow: Volume One, Griffith Review, Voiceworks and Bumf. She is a postgraduate student at the University of Queensland. ‘Deeply personal and unflinchingly honest, Muir’s debut book is among the best long-form explorations of how and why some Australians drink alcohol to excess...It is a striking work and among the strongest debut books I have read.’ Australian ‘Intricately crafted...An intimate portrait of a grieving family and a nation unable to reconcile itself to the harmful effects of its drinking culture...Reminiscent of writers such as Chloe Hooper and Helen Garner...This book will help you think critically and compassionately about those who seek solace in alcohol.’ Books + Publishing ‘Wasted barrels headfirst into the alcohol-soaked heart of Australia to report on our fraught love affair with drinking.’ Liam Pieper ‘There is no lapse in urgency in Wasted; this conversation is a crucial one to have. Five stars.’ Good Reading ‘The prose style of this unheralded writer...is so achingly beautiful and assured, Helen Garner might be pleased to hand her the keys to the creative nonfiction kingdom and ride off into the Carlton sunset.’ Saturday Paper ‘[Muir] gifts readers gorgeously evocative passages which convey a depth of emotion...Wasted is a haunting read.’ Readings ‘Elspeth writes beautifully and honestly, documenting the shocking loss...in such heartbreaking circumstances.’ Mamamia ‘[Muir] concludes of her brother’s death, “What a waste of a life that was.” Yet by determinedly documenting the drinking culture that coddled him, she has opened vital new lines of enquiry into our duty of care towards drinkers. It’s a tragedy, but now, not entirely a waste.’ Lifted Brow ‘Interweaving brilliant reportage with memoir, Wasted delves into Australia’s complicated relationship with alcohol...Timely and eye-opening.’ Canberra Weekly ‘The strongest new Australian voice I’ve come across this year.’ Readings, Our Favourite Books of 2016 (so far) ‘Wasted is a book that every New Zealander and Australian needs to read...If I had my way, I’d give this to everyone in their last year of high school, and their parents too.’ Booksellers New Zealand ‘Elspeth Muir’s memoir begins after her younger brother’s night of heavy drinking culminates with him jumping from a bridge and drowning in the Brisbane River. Her handling of the subject is, by turn, heartbreaking, evocative and, in parts, refreshingly weird, and her assured voice makes this a sobering read.’ Best Non-Fiction Books of 2016, Readings ’This devastating personal story of loss and grief is also an unflinching examination of the damaging drinking habits of young Australians, and of a society that not only permits, but encourages them.’ Junkee

The Best Australian Stories 2009 (Volume 1 of 2) (EasyRead Super Large 20pt Edition)

The Best Australian Stories 2009 (Volume 1 of 2) (EasyRead Super Large 20pt Edition) PDF Author:
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458742237
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description


Great Furphies of Australian History

Great Furphies of Australian History PDF Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761063219
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
Jim Haynes upturns some of the long-held myths of Australian history with surprising results. With all the skills of the master storyteller that he is, Jim Haynes exposes some of the great myths of Australian history. Did you know that Portuguese and Spanish explorers probably found the east coast of Australia before Captain Cook, and that the Rum Rebellion was not caused by rum? And what about Banjo Paterson writing Waltzing Matilda? As for Ned Kelly being a brave freedom-fighting rebel, in truth he was a thief, a thug and a murderer. The Ashes have nothing to do with cricket, the Ghan is not named after Afghan cameleers and Hargraves lied about discovering gold in New South Wales. Surprising, confounding, revealing and fun, Jim Haynes takes us on another great journey through Australian history and folklore.

The Best Australian Stories

The Best Australian Stories PDF Author: ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1459624874
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 718

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Book Description
The best of the best This essential book takes a decade of Best Australian Stories and selects the most outstanding short fiction by the country's finest writers. These stories range widely in style and subject matter: there is drama and comedy, subtlety and extravagance, tales of suspense, love, fantasy, grief and revenge. Together they showcas...

The Best Australian Stories 2009 (Volume 1 of 2) (EasyRead Super Large 24pt Edition)

The Best Australian Stories 2009 (Volume 1 of 2) (EasyRead Super Large 24pt Edition) PDF Author:
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458742253
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 522

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Book Description


Adventurers, Pioneers and Misfits

Adventurers, Pioneers and Misfits PDF Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761060538
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
From an eccentric musical genius to an escaped convict who ended up Japan, Jim Haynes reveals some of Australia's most amazing, and sometimes unbelievable, true life stories The petty thief... who escaped Van Diemen's Land, twice, stole the government brig and set sail for Japan, where, by the Shogun's decree, all foreigners were to be executed. The world's best cricketer a champion of Aboriginal people who 'invented' Aussie Rules, survived the worst massacre of white settlers in Australia's history and killed himself with a pair of scissors. The eccentric musical genius ...who played in the greatest concert halls in the world but pushed his favourite piano stool between venues in a wheelbarrow. Over the many years Jim Haynes has spent exploring and writing about the quirkier events and people in Australia's history, he has discovered characters who have amazed, surprised and simply baffled him. This is a book about some of those men and women and their remarkable, out-of-the-ordinary and almost unbelievable lives. As he always does, Jim has discovered that there is more to the story than first meets the eye. Who knew that the first man hanged in Australia made an artefact now valued at over one million dollars? Or that an Australian swimmer was the highest-paid act on the American vaudeville circuit and the star of the first million-dollar movie ever made? And that the father of the first Australian woman to serve in parliament was hanged for murder? With a light touch, a wry eye and his gifts as a master storyteller, Jim shares the tales and adventures of a group of heroic, feisty, flawed and pioneering characters who have shaped our nation and introduced Australia to the world.

The Best Australian Stories 2009

The Best Australian Stories 2009 PDF Author: Delia Falconer
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458742172
Category : Short stories
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description


Heroes, Rebels and Radicals of Convict Australia

Heroes, Rebels and Radicals of Convict Australia PDF Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 176118797X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 407

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Book Description
Australia's most amazing characters of the convict age. 'Aussies love a good story and entertainer Jim Haynes has been telling them for decades' —Courier-Mail In Heroes, Rebels and Radicals of Convict Australia, our master storyteller Jim Haynes has collected a fascinating cast of characters who embody the resourcefulness, bravery, defiance, successes and tragedies of the convict era, the men and women who forged the nation we would one day become. There's Joseph Banks, the true founder of the colony; Surgeon John White, the saviour of the First Fleet; Pemulwuy, the Bidjigal freedom fighter; Mary Reiby, the horse thief who made good; Sapy Lovell, the Eora gypsy convict; John Donohue, the wild colonial boy; Lady Jane Franklin, the true leader of Van Diemen's Land – and many more! Why did transportation occur, why did it end, and what was it like living in Australia from 1788 to 1870? Skilfully researched and told in Jim's warm and witty style, Heroes, Rebels and Radicals of Convict Australia answers these questions and brings to life well-known and unknown figures from Australia's history as a penal settlement. This is the true story of the colonisation of Australia. 'In a year when we could all use a different perspective Jim Haynes came to the rescue with his latest sojourn into history . . . a cast of colourful characters.' —Spectator