I’ve long been of the opinion that Australia doesn’t have a history. It’s too young for that, and written accounts before Watkin Tench are virtually nonexistent.

I hereby revise that view, here are some pages from Idriess “Coral Sea Dreaming” (of all things) that sheds a different light on Australian history.

The fight for beche-de-mer in the north. The befriending of the Aborigine. The effect of the Spanish Flu on the Aborigine. The fight between the free settlers and governors in Sydney. Building of the first ship in Australia, First steamship in Australia. The battle of the newspapers. A small sample from just a few pages.

If Australian history had been presented like this in school then I may have taken some interest.

Haven’t we discussed the works of Idriess at some length here before?

FWIW, someone writing for The Australian thinks he is grossly under-rated:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/ion-idriess-disdained-as-bush-writer-lacking-modern-relevance/news-story/e40ce88d80f205deb9d74e826855a6ff

The Rev Dodgson said:

Haven’t we discussed the works of Idriess at some length here before?

FWIW, someone writing for The Australian thinks he is grossly under-rated:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/ion-idriess-disdained-as-bush-writer-lacking-modern-relevance/news-story/e40ce88d80f205deb9d74e826855a6ff

Sorry to say I’ve not heard of him.

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Haven’t we discussed the works of Idriess at some length here before?

FWIW, someone writing for The Australian thinks he is grossly under-rated:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/ion-idriess-disdained-as-bush-writer-lacking-modern-relevance/news-story/e40ce88d80f205deb9d74e826855a6ff

Sorry to say I’ve not heard of him.

They had a few of his books in the British Museum.

sibeen said:

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Haven’t we discussed the works of Idriess at some length here before?

FWIW, someone writing for The Australian thinks he is grossly under-rated:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/ion-idriess-disdained-as-bush-writer-lacking-modern-relevance/news-story/e40ce88d80f205deb9d74e826855a6ff

Sorry to say I’ve not heard of him.

They had a few of his books in the British Museum.

I read most of his works before I was ten. Good books for a kid.

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Haven’t we discussed the works of Idriess at some length here before?

FWIW, someone writing for The Australian thinks he is grossly under-rated:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/ion-idriess-disdained-as-bush-writer-lacking-modern-relevance/news-story/e40ce88d80f205deb9d74e826855a6ff

Sorry to say I’ve not heard of him.

The Rev’s been posting here for some time now.

Michael V said:

sibeen said:

dv said:

Sorry to say I’ve not heard of him.

They had a few of his books in the British Museum.

I read most of his works before I was ten. Good books for a kid.

Yep I read Lasseter’s Last Ride when I were lad.

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Haven’t we discussed the works of Idriess at some length here before?

FWIW, someone writing for The Australian thinks he is grossly under-rated:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/ion-idriess-disdained-as-bush-writer-lacking-modern-relevance/news-story/e40ce88d80f205deb9d74e826855a6ff

Sorry to say I’ve not heard of him.

The Rev’s been posting here for some time now.

Yeah, I’m a bit worried that dv’s memory may be shot.

His brain is probably filled to overflowing with reading legal documents from end to end.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

Sorry to say I’ve not heard of him.

The Rev’s been posting here for some time now.

Yeah, I’m a bit worried that dv’s memory may be shot.

His brain is probably filled to overflowing with reading legal documents from end to end.

Or all his brain power is dedicated to taking out PF

The Rev Dodgson said:

Peak Warming Man said:

dv said:

Sorry to say I’ve not heard of him.

The Rev’s been posting here for some time now.

Yeah, I’m a bit worried that dv’s memory may be shot.

His brain is probably filled to overflowing with reading legal documents from end to end.

I’m sure there are hundreds of thousands of posts I’ve not read here, and have sometimes been absent for long stretches.

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Peak Warming Man said:

The Rev’s been posting here for some time now.

Yeah, I’m a bit worried that dv’s memory may be shot.

His brain is probably filled to overflowing with reading legal documents from end to end.

I’m sure there are hundreds of thousands of posts I’ve not read here, and have sometimes been absent for long stretches.

You know I was joking, right?

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Yeah, I’m a bit worried that dv’s memory may be shot.

His brain is probably filled to overflowing with reading legal documents from end to end.

I’m sure there are hundreds of thousands of posts I’ve not read here, and have sometimes been absent for long stretches.

You know I was joking, right?

You can’t prove that

Peak Warming Man said:

Michael V said:

sibeen said:

They had a few of his books in the British Museum.

I read most of his works before I was ten. Good books for a kid.

Yep I read Lasseter’s Last Ride when I were lad.

Haven’t read that one yet.

What do you think of “during the spanish influenza epidemic just after wwi i saw hundreds of dead aborigines lying on the beaches of cape york peninsula”?

Shouldn’t that be in the history books? More important than the damn eureka stockade.

mollwollfumble said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Michael V said:

I read most of his works before I was ten. Good books for a kid.

Yep I read Lasseter’s Last Ride when I were lad.

Haven’t read that one yet.

What do you think of “during the spanish influenza epidemic just after wwi i saw hundreds of dead aborigines lying on the beaches of cape york peninsula”?

Shouldn’t that be in the history books? More important than the damn eureka stockade.

His books were novels, some loosely based on fact.

Peak Warming Man said:

mollwollfumble said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Yep I read Lasseter’s Last Ride when I were lad.

Haven’t read that one yet.

What do you think of “during the spanish influenza epidemic just after wwi i saw hundreds of dead aborigines lying on the beaches of cape york peninsula”?

Shouldn’t that be in the history books? More important than the damn eureka stockade.

His books were novels, some loosely based on fact.

All are loosely based on fact. How loose varies from book to book. Those of his books that should be treated as solid 100% fact are:
“In crocodile land”
“Over the range”
“Prospecting for gold”
“Fortunes in minerals”

You probably haven’t read those because they’re not his most popular ones.

mollwollfumble said:

Peak Warming Man said:

mollwollfumble said:

Haven’t read that one yet.

What do you think of “during the spanish influenza epidemic just after wwi i saw hundreds of dead aborigines lying on the beaches of cape york peninsula”?

Shouldn’t that be in the history books? More important than the damn eureka stockade.

His books were novels, some loosely based on fact.

All are loosely based on fact. How loose varies from book to book. Those of his books that should be treated as solid 100% fact are:
“In crocodile land”
“Over the range”
“Prospecting for gold”
“Fortunes in minerals”

You probably haven’t read those because they’re not his most popular ones.

Unless there is supporting evidence they cannot be regarded as factual.

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

Peak Warming Man said:

His books were novels, some loosely based on fact.

All are loosely based on fact. How loose varies from book to book. Those of his books that should be treated as solid 100% fact are:
“In crocodile land”
“Over the range”
“Prospecting for gold”
“Fortunes in minerals”

You probably haven’t read those because they’re not his most popular ones.

Unless there is supporting evidence they cannot be regarded as factual.

The first two are personal diaries, first-hand accounts.

The one with the most independent supporting evidemce would be “The cattle king”.