Breathtakingly original, this book shows that the history ofAustralia can be told through a history of camping.

Bill Garner reminds us that Australia was settled as acampsite 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 aswell as men colonised the country by living under canvas. It changed theminto a new sort of native Australian. It gave them a feelfor the place, a wry can-do attitude, and a lasting taste for equality. And itled to a sense of belonging.

Born in a Tenttakes the story from the campfire to the gas bottle, from a tarp slung onsaplings to polymer tents and aluminium poles. It reveals how deeply ourcamping holidays connect us to the land, to the past, and to one another.