The Best Australian Yarns

Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1743316836
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 513

Book Description
Best Australian Yarns is a substantial and definitive collection of factual and fanciful Aussie stories, humor and anecdotes—the result of decades of researching popular Aussie culture and history and yarning to mates and other colorful characters from all parts of Australia and all walks of life. This collection includes tall stories from the bush, reminiscences from the racetrack and shearing shed, railway yarns, stories from the world of show business, Aboriginal legends and humor, digger yarns from both world wars, ghost stories, monsters, bunyips, and yowies... and many things you never knew about our amazing history and the characters who made it—the pioneers, heroes, convicts, bushrangers, eccentrics, and brave and forgotten men and women whose fascinating lives and achievements created the Aussie spirit that we all love. While the stories range from poignant to hilarious, many simply describe unusual coincidences, strange occurrences, or simple everyday humorous events with a refreshing understatement that vividly evokes a vanishing Australia where looking for a good laugh was a key component of a cheekier national character and a simpler lifestyle.

The Big Book of Australian Yarns

Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761505068
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 654

Book Description
A new extended collection from Jim Haynes about the true essence of Australia—our yarns and stories, from every walk of life 'Aussies love a good story and entertainer Jim Haynes has been telling them for decades.' - Courier-Mail The Big Book of Australian Yarns is master storyteller Jim Haynes' comprehensive collection of factual and fascinating stories and humour. The yarns range from the poignant to the hilarious, from the ridiculously Australian to the unexplained and spooky. There are heroic and inspiring characters, as well as larrikins and crooks, and everyday humorous events told with a refreshing understatement that vividly evokes a vanishing Australia. There are tall stories from the bush, yarns from our colourful colonial past and more modern times, railway stories, sporting legends and many other things you never knew about our amazing history and the people who made it — men and women whose astonishing lives and achievements created the Aussie spirit. The result of decades of research into popular culture and history from all parts of the country, unearthing little-known facts and tales long-buried, The Big Book of Australian Yarns will have you smiling for days and spinning yarns to all your mates. 'It's fair to say that Jim certainly knows how to pull together a collection of ripping good yarns.' - Australian Rural & Regional News

The Best Gallipoli Yarns and Forgotten Stories

Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1925267563
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Book Description
A unique collection of poignant, horrorific, sad, and sometimes dryly humorous, stories and yarns from bloody battlefield of Gallipoli. They were shipped like sheep when the dawn was grey; And as the ships left Mudros Bay They squatted and perched where'er they could, And they laughed and swore as we knew they would. Knew they would- Knew they would; They laughed and swore as we knew they would. - Henry Lawson When 26,000 Anzac troops went ashore at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, most were going into battle for the first time. These are their yarns, poems and recollections... their stories of recruitment, their memories of life in the trenches, their accounts of the fighting and their evocations of coming home. Here are the stories of Australian nurses tending the wounded, the Light Horsemen who had to leave their mounts in Egypt, and the strange bond between the Australians and their Turkish enemy. This is a collection full of poignancy, horror and sadness, as well as dry Aussie humour from one of Australia's most successful storytellers. It reminds us that Gallipoli was more than a military campaign. These are the forgotten stories and yarns that give heart to the Anzac legend.

Great Australian Outback Yarns

Author: Bill Marsh
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
ISBN: 1460714393
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
A collection of the funniest yarns and most colourful characters from the bestselling 'Great Australian Stories' series from beloved storyteller Bill 'Swampy' Marsh. When he'd finished playing, a solemn silence fell as Brian and the gravediggers stared down into that three-quarter-filled hole. 'I must apologise,' Brian said to the two men, 'this's the first time I've played at a pauper's funeral, and I'm a bit emotional.' 'Well,' said one of the diggers, sniffling back the tears, 'it's the first time we've ever had a piper play at one of our septic tank installations.' The Australian Outback can be harsh, but it's the kind of place where you either learn to laugh off your troubles or fold under the pressure. Bill 'Swampy' Marsh has a deep affection and respect for people living in the Australian Bush, and he's spent more than twenty years travelling to every corner of our wide brown land, talking to people from all walks of life, collecting their memories and stories. Great Australian Outback Yarns captures the funniest tales from Swampy's many books in one volume. The colourful characters in these pages are full of generosity, humour and a larrikin Aussie spirit. These true stories of life in remote and regional Australia from Australia's master storyteller will leave you grinning from ear to ear. Bill 'Swampy' Marsh is an award-winning writer and performer of stories, songs and plays. He spent most of his youth in rural south-western NSW and now lives in Adelaide. This is his twenty-fifth book.

Great Australian Stories

Author: Graham Seal
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1742693733
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 309

Book Description
From pioneer tales to urban myths, folklore expert Graham Seal has gathered some of the best Australian stories from around the country, and this?new edition contains?10 extra stories. Australia has a rich tradition of story telling that reflects?a unique history and experience. Great Australian Stories is the most representative collection available of the stories?Aussies tell about themselves. Graham Seal explains where the stories come from, and why even the outright lies reveal a truth of sorts.

Great Australian Beer Yarns

Author: Peter Lalor
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Australia Pty Limited
ISBN: 9780733333279
Category : Alcoholism
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
A beer barrel full of yarns, laughs and beer-related facts, this is the perfect book to flip through while you're enjoying a cold one! Why is one of our prime ministers in the GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS? How many beers did Rodney Marsh really drink? How did beer save the life of a bloke bitten by a bloody great big brown snake? the answers to these and many other burning beer-related questions can be found in the pages of the great Aussie volume, GREAt AUStRALIAN BEER YARNS. With this collection of funny, frank and fascinating beer stories, Peter Lalor has managed to create every beer lover's dream - the perfect book to flip through while you're enjoying a cold one!

The Big Book of Great Australian Bush Yarns

Author: Graham Seal
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761060856
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 520

Book Description
Two of Graham Seal's bestselling collections of stories from around Australia, now in one volume. 'Aussies know how to spin a good yarn, and Graham Seal knows how to tell them.' - Weekly Times Graham Seal is one of Australia's master storytellers. This bumper collection of yarns from the bush gathers some of our best stories since colonial times, retold in Graham's warm style. It takes a certain character to make a living in the Australian bush. In the most difficult situations, laughter often comes to the rescue. Here are pioneers and battlers, convicts and settler's children, and a land that tests them with fire, flood and drought, in stories resonant with Australia's distinctive wry humour. Originally published as two bestselling collections: Great Australian Stories and Larrikins, Bush Tales and Other Great Australian Stories. 'Graham Seal has the knack of the storyteller.' - Warren Fahey AM

Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags

Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761185586
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Book Description
An incredible collection of true crime characters from Australia's master storyteller. The bold, the bad, and the slightly mad... Criminality, some say, is part of Australia's national identity, and in Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags Jim Haynes profiles fifteen larger-than-life Aussie rogues - some of our greatest ne'er-do-wells from colonial times to the modern era. These stories uncover the truth and expose the myths about characters ranging from the most despicable examples of humanity, to those whose courage has to be admired and whose so-called 'crimes' were unjustly punished. This fascinating collection features felons who have sprung from Australia's underbelly since 1788, such as the infamous Kate Leigh of the razor gangs; the convict Mary Bryant, who in 1791 escaped from the Sydney penal settlement and somehow made it back to England; James Hardy Vaux, who was sent to Australia no less than three times; Henry James O'Farrell, the madman who attempted to murder Prince Alfred in Sydney in 1868; and John Leak, who was repeatedly charged with insolence, disobedience and being absent without leave in World War I - and awarded the Victoria Cross. Told with Jim's inimitable combination of history and humour, Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags is packed with murders, mystery and miscreants: true stories of true criminals from Australia's past. 'entertaining . . . highly readable . . . you will find some genuinely amazing new facts and insights.' ArtsHub

Pub Yarns

Author: Colin Whelan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781760790103
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
Take a journey to some of the most memorable and extraordinary pubs in Australia. Each of these outstanding country, bush and outback pubs has a unique story to tell about its surroundings, its neighbours and about its customers, both regular and occasional. Author and photographer Colin Whelan crosses Australia on his motorbike to visit these disappearing icons of outback Australia. He tells of his travels between the pubs, the marvellous stories of pioneering history and the characters and drinking culture that he uncovered.

Great Furphies of Australian History

Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761063219
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Book Description
Jim Haynes upturns some of the long-held myths of Australian history with surprising results. 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 Paterson 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 New South Wales. Surprising, confounding, revealing and fun, Jim Haynes takes us on another great journey through Australian history and folklore.