Girt

The Unauthorised History of Australia, Volume 1

By: David Hunt

Narrated by: David Hunt

Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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 listen to it would be un-Australian.

©2013 David Hunt (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"A sneaky, sometimes shocking peek under the dirty rug of Australian history." (John Birmingham)
"Hilarious and insightful - Hunt has found the deep wells of humour in Australia's history." (Chris Taylor, The Chaser)

An overall enjoyable experience

I wouldn't say brilliant but a fun walk through early colonial Australian history. A nice introduction even for those who know little about the country, and interesting behind the scenes anecdotes for those who do. Bonus points for explaining the origins of many English expressions. But it feels at times like the author is trying too hard to be funny and the tongue-in-cheek tone, pleasant at first, gets repetitive and cumbersome after a few hours. How many times can you make a quip about the French military not being used to winning?

Spirited,swashbuckling antidote to Australian History 10

How stultifying our Australian history lessons were made by a succession of lack luster teachers leading to Australian kids being bored to death.
Yet here it is. Another way.
I vacillated between hysterical outbursts of laughter and nearly weeping at how entertaining cleverness can be.
Tormented for at least 4+ years in succession by the same story of Blaxland , Wentworth and Lawson-yet I learnt NOTHING about the Western State I lived in- I gave in. Mediaeval, Renaissance and South East Asian history became my relief..
What a terrific, if not altogether sedate, insight into maybe stories. Can hardly wait to listen to the next installment.
And I still won’t sing that dumb, song wading around the word “girt.”

Could have been so much better...

This would have been a great bok if the author had not been the narrator. His mispronunciations I found iritating. The sound of a cracking whip to denote a footnote was another grating noise. I did not finish the book as all of this became too much of a distraction.

Pretty funny but a bit over-acted.

Four stars. Pretty funny but a bit over-acted. It's the satirical version of David Hill's books, which I enjoyed much more than this one.

Seriously irritating voice. Can I get a refund?

For the first time ever I just couldn't listen. Regular narration voice is OK but the awful voices used for quotes drove me over the edge. Traveling to AU soon so will try the book in print. Love love audio books. Just not this one.

Accents annoying

Good story, great humour but lay off the accents. They just get in the way of the listening experience.

Could not stop laughing

This irreverent history of Australia had me in stitches and I listened to this in one setting and bought volumes 2 & 3 so I could laugh so hard that I pass out. I've recommended this book to all of my friends and now to you, Dear Reader.

Great book, cringeworthy accents

A funny and entertaining romp through Australia's early colonial history, hampered by the reader/author attempting accents despite not being very good at them.

Welcome to Terra Australis!

Any additional comments?

This is an hilarious account of Australian history. Not being an Aussie, and not having any background on their history I can only assume that it is accurate. (I hope so. If not, it's still a funny listen.) This is not a book for those who are prudish and blush at swears. Aussie's apparently don't view these words in the same manner as us. .. or they just find them funny. I'm not much of one for that language myself, but for some reason it almost sings when it comes from an Aussie. :)

Super fun!

An excellent performance of an engaging history of a very quirky country written in a highly entertaining humorist style.