From a digitised formerly secret Australian military intelligence file comes one of Forgotten Australia’s strangest stories.
In 1911-1912, from Sydney to Brisbane, Perth to Melbourne, and all points in between, Australia was enthralled by the little people entertainment troupe known as Tiny Town.
Everyone was especially fond its undisputed star, 'The Mayor of Tiny Town', aka 'The Turkish Tom Thumb', the incomparable small-man performer Hayati Hassid.
Yet how did this beloved celebrity - who also acted as editor of 'The Tiny Town Times' - become designated an enemy alien after the Great War broke out?
What did this dark twist have to do with showman and self-professed father of Australian aviation Frederick Hooper Jones?
And just where do genocidal Turkish sultan Abdul The Damned, legendary escapologist Harry Houdini and Aussie rock band The Angels fit into this picture?
Join me for a four-part deep dive that takes us from the harems of the dying Ottoman Empire to the roller-skating-mad London vaudeville scene, from a forgotten antipodean box office blockbuster to the controversial very earliest days of Australia aviation.
You won't believe your ears.
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My new book Hanging Ned Kelly is out now and will make a cracker of a Christmas present.
You can read a free excerpt here - and get 26% off the RRP: https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/hanging-ned-kelly/
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