Buying Options

Read for $0.00

OR

Kindle Price:	$4.99
	includes tax, if applicable

promotions apply when you purchase

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Redeem a promotion code or gift card

Share <Embed>

Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia by [David Hunt]

Follow the Author

David Hunt

Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia Kindle Edition

by David Hunt (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

910 ratings

See all formats and editions

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$4.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

—

Paperback, Illustrated

"Please retry"

$22.90

$12.58

MP3 CD, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$28.02

—

Kindle
$0.00 This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited $4.99 to buy
Audiobook
$0.00 Free with your Audible trial
Hardcover
—
Paperback
$22.90

1 Used from $12.58 12 New from $22.90
MP3 CD
$28.02

2 New from $28.02

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.

Winner of the 2014 Indie Award for Non-Fiction

Shortlisted in the 2014 ABA Nielsen BookData Bookseller's Choice Awards, the 2014 NSW Premier's Literary Awards and the 2014 Australian Book Industry Awards.

‘Australian history never looked like this! Beneath the humour is an interesting analysis backed by extensive research, which has uprooted some little-known historical gems. Girt will appeal to readers who enjoyed John Birmingham’s Leviathan as much as lovers of Chaser-style satire and the humour of John Clarke … and leaves this reader hoping there will be further instalments.’ —Books+Publishing

‘Girt … cuts an irreverent swath through the facts, fools, fantasies and frauds that made this country what it is today, hoisting sacred cows on their own petards and otherwise sawing the legs off Lady Macquarie’s chair. I was transported.’ —Shane Maloney, The Age Best Books of 2013

‘Girt is a ripping read… a humorous history that is accessible enough to share with the eight-year-old. Hunt’s writing interests span comedy, politics and history, a happy triumvirate when your subject is Australia.’ —Stephen Romei, The Australian

‘There is barely a page in Girt that won’t inspire a chortle. It’s our early history told by a writer with a wit sharp enough to slice tomatoes. But it’s not all jokes and jolly japes. David Hunt has done his research…’ —Herald Sun

‘David Hunt knows how to make the most of history’s juicy bits to hook the reader.’ —The Age

Print length

229 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Black Inc.
Publication date

31 July 2013
File size

6545 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Product description

About the Author

Authors Bio, not available --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

'A sneaky, sometimes shocking peek under the dirty rug of Australian history.' --John Birmingham --This text refers to the paperback edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00DNMNH8O
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black Inc.; Illustrated edition (31 July 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 6545 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 229 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 548 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 1 in History (Kindle Store)
- 2 in History of Australia
- 2 in History of Australia & New Zealand

Customer Reviews:
910 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

David Hunt

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs, and more

David Hunt
109
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $16.14
David Hunt
210
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $12.34
David Hill
136
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $4.99
Cameron Jamieson
67
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $4.99
Peter FitzSimons
690
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $13.99
James Boyce
23
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $12.34

Customer reviews

5 star		56%
4 star		28%
3 star		11%
2 star		2%
1 star		3%

How are ratings calculated?

Review this product

Write a customer review

Top reviews from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

A NEW TAKE ON AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

Reviewed in Australia on 6 January 2014

Verified Purchase

Like the author I failed to pay much attention to lessons on Australian history at school. If I'd had a book like this I might have absorbed a little more! It is by no means a "complete" history, but it seems there will be more to come from the author. It addresses history prior to white settlement as well as after, focussing heavily on such people as Governors Phillip, Macquarie and Macarthur, and Benelong, Joseph Banks and the infamous Captain Bligh. You will never view these illustrious names in quite the same light after reading this book! Anyone not familiar with Australian history and culture will probably find it a little difficult to follow and scarcely credible.
I nearly dropped one star off the possible five because it commits the heinous crime of spelling sock drawer as "sock draw", and there are a couple of references to Rolf Harris which in the light of recent events just made me squirm a little, but I must give it full credit as a well-researched, funny book, full of interesting information and laugh-out-loud quotable quotes. The humour is reminiscent of Bill Bryson's books and the author does cite Bryson as a major influence in the afterword, so if you find Bryson funny you will probably enjoy David Hunt's style.

45 people found this helpful

Helpful

Clever, witty, irreverent take on Australia's history - every Aussie should read it!

Reviewed in Australia on 25 January 2016

Verified Purchase

I felt it only fitting on this, Australia Day - I read an Australian iconic book and decided a bit of irreverent history wouldn't go astray! I am so pleased I did because this book is hilarious. From the great quotes:-
"Australia’s isolation made it a giant Petri dish, able to grow a unique culture. It attracted no-hopers, ne’er-do-wells, political prisoners, religious refugees, free thinkers and eccentrics."
Or "Australia was the place to be. Unless you were black. Or a woman. Or gay. Or suspected of being Irish. Or even worse, all of the above."

An offbeat look at Australia's early history, warts and all. Have to say, I didn't know much about Australian history only what was mandatory at school over 25 years ago yet I was able to follow the book well enough.

‘Girt’ gives us an alternative, behind-the-scenes picture of how the colony worked (or, more to the point, didn't work in the early days) - it's surprising anything happened as everyone seems fairly drunk all the time. It's a completely different account from the sanitised history books from schooldays.

Reading this book is like being at a dinner party with a clever, funny, witty friend. With chapter headings like "A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy" and "The Unoriginal Non-Inhabitants," you know you're dealing with a clever author who's not afraid to get down & dirty.

From corrupt officials, to unnecessary killing of aboriginals, and other shameful moments you learn a lot but all delivered comically that strikes the right balance between highlighting the absurdity of parts of Australia's past while not downplaying their seriousness. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Happy Australia Day.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Bard C. Papegaaij

A highly amusing and ridiculously accurate history of British Australia

Reviewed in Australia on 8 July 2017

Verified Purchase

This history of British Australia has many laugh-out-loud moments; no mean feat for a history book. It taught me many things I did not know and shed new light on some I did. It certainly shows that we've been taking our history way to seriously. Considering that most of what happened to make this country what it is today was either unintended, mean-spirited or short-sighted - and quite often all of that - we might as well laugh at it and be happy it's all in the past.

Or is it?

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

An hilarious take on Australian history

Reviewed in Australia on 16 February 2017

Verified Purchase

This book really is a romp. It makes you laugh out loud, but it also makes you weep at the sheer ineptitude and downright skullduggery that created a nation. How it ever transformed into the wonderful country it now is, is little short of a miracle. Let's hope Mr. Hunt is going to provide answers in a future book.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Nola

Don't take it too seriously, just enjoy it!

Reviewed in Australia on 26 April 2015

Verified Purchase

"Girt" is an often hilarious, satirical take on Australian history until roughly the 1840s. While the author has certainly done his research, the goal of the book is to entertain as well as to enlighten, so this is no dry, factually-driven tome of the sort that made Australian history so boring for so many of us in the past. People who know the subject well may therefore find themselves offended by cavalier characterisations or apparently snap judgments but, speaking as one who knew only the basic outline of the material, I found it a delightful romp. Just as important, it was interesting enough to push me into doing more reading on pre-Federation Australian history.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Girt: The unauthorised history of Australia.

Reviewed in Australia on 11 May 2014

Verified Purchase

This book is funny and quite illuminating. It makes you wonder how on earth Australia managed to survive and, in fact, to thrive considering that according to Hunt most of the early leading lights in the New South Wales colony seemed to be drunk most of the time. As we know from our school lessons and a number of television dramatizations the Rum Corp controlled the colony for much of its early days, but their replacements, generally, were not much better. He dishes the dirt on quite a large number of our colonial "heroes" who, after all, were just ordinary men doing a job they couldn't get out.

To be put in command of a new colony mostly populated by convicts was probably not the job most people in England with influence were going to be fighting over.

So, if you want to renew your knowledge of early Australian colonial history but don't want to read a standard history, I would recommend this one. Its funny and very irreverent.

Hunt leaves you wondering how on earth the colony survived, but survive we did to become a successful united country.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Cliente Amazon

Funny, and surprisingly well informed

Reviewed in Australia on 16 January 2021

Verified Purchase

Fun to read, interesting and well informed, the book presents some the main characters of the Australian English settlement. The characters are presented well, warts and all, so you can follow how the colonies evolved over time. I really liked it.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

TERRIFIC READ

Reviewed in Australia on 7 July 2017

Verified Purchase

I have long been a Bill Bryson fan and David Hunt Bryson style tongue in cheek but factual Aussie history is simply great. Couldn't put it down and have the sequel 'True Girt' on my Kindle for the next go. Highly recommend this. What a great way to learn. Thank you for so much enjoyment... and writing style is great as well. 5 out of 5.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

PAUL

Great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 April 2021

Verified Purchase

Really enjoyed this book. Particularly enjoyed the light hearted way it is written. I am now reading the second book, True Girt.

Peter

The truth hurts, but it's pretty damn funny anyway

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 July 2019

Verified Purchase

This is in-depth and well researched history. But by telling the story of Australia in a brutally true and direct manner - with jokes and modern references thrown in - it's side-splitting comedy. What's the difference between a convict and a government official anyway?

2 people found this helpful

melanierome

An amazing book which exploded lots of the history lessons fed ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2015

Verified Purchase

An amazing book which exploded lots of the history lessons fed to us in school and should be standard reading for all Australians,. Really well written, well researched and provokes a great deal of thought about how history is recorded.

One person found this helpful

Francis Webster

Most amusing!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 February 2014

Verified Purchase

An enjoyable irreverent view of Aussie history. Only an Aussie could write a history book like this - Brits take history far too seriously..

Be sure to read the footnotes. They are the finniest bits.

Mr. D. R. Cleaton

Quite funny

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 March 2019

Verified Purchase

Not the best book I’ve ever read, but interesting with some surprising snippets. Parts are really funny, but parts are just text. Will probably buy the follow up as I am a regilsr visitor to Australis

Buying Options

OR

Follow the Author

Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia Kindle Edition

Product description

About the Author

Review

Book Description

Product details

About the author

David Hunt

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Customer reviews

Review this product

Read reviews that mention

Top reviews from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries