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THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN: A Cartoon History of Australia ~ Jonathan King (1979).

This exciting cavalcade of political cartoons from Australian history which for the first time tells the truth about the country's past. In 380 beautifully illustrated cartoons the artists who were there at the time tell us what really happened. It is not just another illustrated history of Australia as there is no long list of national achievements. Far from it: for this is history seen through the penetrating eyes of the gifted watchdogs whose brutal honesty and sharp pens transform many of our legends into scandals.

They expose the horrors of the convict colony and the Rum Rebellion against Governor Bligh; the Eureka Stockade massacre on the goldfields and the police bungling of the Ned Kelly case; the drives against Aborigines and Chinese and the Queensland slave trade; the Royal assassination attempt and the Burke and Wills fiasco; the seven unnecessary wars and the shocking folly of Gallipoli; the secession gambles of Victoria, Queensland and West Australia, and the deserts who left for Argentina; the class hatred of the depression and the apathy under the Japanese attack; Menzies' search for reds under the bed, and the futility of the Vietnam War. The blots of copybook, hushed by official historians are highlighted by a line of cartoonings stretching from Hogarth to Pickering.

They include the most bizarre from Punch, the more exotic from the Bulletin, the cheekiest from Smith's Weekly and the boldest from the Australian. 'Hop', Phil May, David Low and Norman Lindsay bring the past of our ancestor alive, while Molnar, Rigby, Petty and Leunig prick the conscience of the present. Their cartoons have been gathered from libraries in London and all State of Australia to provide the most comprehensive collection on record - the one that shows the other side of the coin.

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