Born in a Tent: How camping makes us Australian

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Breathtakingly original, this book shows that the history of Australia can be told through a history of camping.

Bill Garner reminds us that Australia was settled as a campsite the nation was born in a tent. But while Europeans brought tents, they did not bring camping. Australia had been a camping place for millennia. And so it continued to be. For more than a hundred years, settlers women as well as men colonised the country by living under canvas. It changed them into a new sort of native Australian. It gave them a feel for the place, a wry can-do attitude, and a lasting taste for equality. And it led to a sense of belonging.

Born in a Tent takes the story from the campfire to the gas bottle, from a tarp slung on saplings to polymer tents and aluminium poles. It reveals how deeply our camping holidays connect us to the land, to the past, and to one another.

Author Bio

Bill Garner is an award-winning historian, screenwriter, playwright and avid camper. As a television scriptwriter he has created many hours of popular television drama, including Blue Heelers, on which he was head writer.