Another effort from George Blaikie narrating forgotten stories from Australian history, following on from "Scandals from Australia's Strange Past". Like "Scandals", he picks obscure moments in history and adds some whimsy. We should thank Blaikie for highlighting some of these moments that would otherwise be completely lost to us; my favourite story was the dinner planned for the 1867 Duke of Edinburgh visit with the tale of how the Cocos Keeling Islands came to be populated with people of Asian backgrounds a runner up.

On the negative side, Blaikie's treatment of any non-white characters betrays the period this was written in, as does the euphemisms he uses. Still, historians (amateur or professional) will find much of interest in "Skeletons from Australia's Strange Past". ( )