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The Enchantment of the Long-haired Rat : Rodent History of Australia - Tim Bonyhady

The Enchantment of the Long-haired Rat

Rodent History of Australia

By: Tim Bonyhady

Paperback | 6 August 2019

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The Enchantment of the Long-haired Rat tells the story of a small Australian rodent known for its fast and prodigious spread after big rains: plagues for the European colonists who feared and loathed all rats; an abundance of food for the indigenous peoples who feasted with delight in these times of plenty. While the rats brought despair and hardship for the early colonist eating not only crops and supplies but clothes, boots and saddlery, their presence also offered a lifeline as a food source.

The Burke and Wills story might well have had a different ending had the hapless explorers been tempted to follow the example of the Aboriginal people and make use of a nutritious and readily available meal. Tim Bonyhady’s account—from the earliest evidence of it, found in caves and overhangs, to its most recent boom triggered by the immense rains across Australia of 2010–11 and current research of its mysterious life—presents a fascinating view of Australia’s history, illuminating a species, a continent, its climate and its people.

About the Author

Professor Tim Bonyhady is one of Australia’s foremost environmental lawyers and cultural historians. His many books include Images in Opposition: Australian Landscape Painting 1801-1890, Burke and Wills: From Melbourne to Myth, Places Worth Keeping: Conservationists, Politics and Law and The Colonial Earth.
Industry Reviews
'A book of surprises, with one yarn after another about an amazing Australian mammal.' * Tim Low *
'A marvellous story about one of the world's most enigmatic creatures.' * Tim Flannery *
'Part history, part field guide and part folktale, the more you read the more you realise that this bewitching creature is an allegory for Australia itself.' * Guardian *
'[A]s Bonyhady's highly engaging new book eloquently demonstrates, the rat and its history offer a fascinating lens through which to examine the history of the Australian environment and the catastrophic human and environmental impact of European invasion...[a] fascinating and often profound book.' * Sydney Morning Herald *
'Bonyhady crafts his history through a forensic analysis of detailed sources' * ABR *
'[A] delightful exploration of the teeming lives and dramatic deaths of members of a generally overlooked Australian species...[A]n important book for our times.' * Inside Story *
'This story of a precious Australian mammal is a fascinating journey into Australian natural history.' * Good Reading *
'This book is environmental history writing at its best. Bonyhady's fluent and compelling narrative couples the diversity of natural history with accounts of wide-ranging human action and thinking, to create a telling example of human/environment interaction.' * Historical Records of Australian Science *

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