Great Furphies of Australian History

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 Patterson 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 NSW.

Surprising, confounding, revealing and fun, Jim Haynes takes us on another great journey through Australian history and folklore.