The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka

By: Clare Wright

Narrated by: Kate Hosking

The story of how gold miners rebelled against British authority, beginning a process that would ultimately lead to democracy in Australia.

The Eureka Stockade.

It's one of Australia's foundation legends - yet the story has always been told as if half the participants weren't there. But what if the hot-tempered, free-spirited gold miners we learned about at school were actually husbands and fathers, brothers and sons? What if there were women and children right there beside them, inside the stockade, when the bullets started to fly? And how do the answers to these questions change what we thought we knew about the so-called 'birth of Australian democracy'? Who, in fact, were the midwives to that precious delivery?

Ten years in the research and writing, irrepressibly bold, entertaining and often irreverent in style, Clare Wright's The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka is a fitting tribute to the unbiddable women of Ballarat - women who made Eureka a story for us all.

©2013 Clare Wright (P)2017 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Immediately entrancing.... Wright challenges the traditional view of the stockade to create a much richer social history." (The Guardian)
"Evokes the goldfields era vividly...brings to life the experiences of so many young immigrants to Australia in the 1850." (The Age)

Painful!!

What disappointed you about The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka?

Very slow moving - I was looking so forward to the story, but the history of it is like reading every newspaper word for word for ten years - sure there is history there, but it is impossible to see with all the irrelevant information. Horribly slow moving.

What was most disappointing about Clare Wright’s story?

I've listened to about 7 or 8 hours of it and can't tell you one character that has impacted the story for more than a few minutes. The detail of each story told is excruciating.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narrator was great - the detail was deadly

Any additional comments?

I'm sad, because I wanted to read a story of the women's involvement in Australian history. Couldn't stick with it any longer