Eamon Evans

Satanists in Perth. Panthers in Sydney. Inner Melbourne's secret morgue. Australia is stuffed full of stories that need to be taken with a spoonful of salt. Stories that we all know are silly, but that we also just can't help sharing. In Great Australian Urban Legends, Eamon Evans presents you with myths, misconceptions and barefaced lies about real people and...

The happy accident that created wi-fi. The well-placed piece of coral that saved the Endeavour from sinking. The stroke of luck that made Hugh Jackman Wolverine. The Lucky Country by Eamon Evans explores just how fitting Australia's nickname truly is. Turns out, it's very accurate. From the Gold Rush to Stephen Bradbury, Australia's history is peppered with instances where lady...

Who stole the priceless Picasso from the NGV? Was Errol Flynn a Nazi spy? Did an Australian kill the infamous Red Baron? If you think Australia's history is straightforward, you're dead wrong. This is a land of the strange, the spooky and the unexplained. From the eerie ball of light that stalked a terrified family across the Nullabor, to the...

Humans just want to be happy, yes? After all, that’s what life’s all about. Well ... no. It turns out that, for a huge chunk of history, feeling good was the furthest thing from our minds. Expecting life to be fun and fulfilling (or, if all else fails, fine) is actually a very recent phenomenon. And there’s every reason to...

The stories behind Australia's many, many strange, inappropriate and downright hilarious place names. From Dismal Swamp to Useless Loop, Intercourse Island to Dead Mans Gully, Mount Buggery to Nowhere Else, Australia has some of the strangest, funniest, weirdest and most out-of-place names going—now described and explained in one humorous and fascinating book. Australia's vast spaces and irreverent, larrikin history have...