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.
