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In this updated edition, Peter Timms leads us on a journey through his adopted city of Hobart, Australia's smallest, most southerly, least prosperous, but arguably most beautiful state capital. He reveals a city in transition, shaking off its dark and troubled past to claim its special place in the post-modern world: 'going boutique, nice and slow', as one overseas visitor notes. From Hobart's convict legacy, its spectacular natural setting, heritage architecture and climate, to crime rates, economic hardship, the recent disfigurements of the developers, and the opening of MONA (the Museum of Old and New Art) Hobart's newest tourist attraction. Timms brings a wealth of fresh insights. He explores the city with a mixture of affection, admiration, frustration and sadness, interviewing a wide range of residents along the way. Those who have experienced Hobart as tourists will be surprised and intrigued by the lively, complex society this book reveals. Those who live here will surely discover their city anew.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 20, 2015
Another informative and entertaining read about Tasmania. Despite how hard some of these writers try to ruin my "rose coloured glasses" impression of this place they fail miserably. For any negatives there are many more positives. The natural beauty and general friendliness and country style attitude shine through brightly. I know Hobart and Tasmania in general have their issues but it doesn't take away from the brilliance of this wonderful island.
April 21, 2024
really adored this!!!!!! listened to the audiobook while driving around and in and out of hobart and it was the perfect way to consume this. wonderfully interesting and made me love this city i live in and grew up in even more, although kind of bittersweetly as i really do desperately want to move. a shame that the guy reading the audiobook wasn't a local (he mispronounced some suburbs and towns and animals), you would have though that would be essential.
September 8, 2011
Timms examines the city I love; a little city nestled under a mountain on a harbour without the cachet of Sydney’s, but utterly picturesque nonetheless. He presents the down side as well as the up, takes the reader back in time and postulates on what it is that has shaped the city’s character, and what hinders its development, thankfully, away totally from its ‘end of the earth backwater-ness’. It is a city Timms, and his partner Robert Dessaix, have not always called home, so he is not blinkered in as far as its shortcomings are concerned. He, though, is also unafraid to laud what makes this place special. There’s the vibrancy of Salamanca, the gothic history, the boganism of Chigwell, the developing artistic/literary tinge and Timms notes rightly, as it turns out, the promise to come of MONA.
Being one of a series on our state capitals, it makes me eager to read Sophie Cunningham’s take on Melbourne, another city I am reasonably familiar with, as well as linked treatises on less known Brisbane and Sydney. I wonder if Canberra will receive the ‘going over’ as well?
My own life in Hobart, when I can get there, is quite blissful. The location of writing this is a little home right by the river on the rurban fringe of town. Yet I am ten minutes away from MONA and twenty from the CBD. I look up to forested hills down from which sea eagles occasionally swoop to observe my solitary, but joyous, perambulations. It doesn’t take much to imagine those hills sheltering the First Tasmanians, the original fringe dwellers of white settlement or skulking thylacine. Conversely I can quickly transform into a city habitué checking out the latest book launch at Fullers, the footy at a favourite waterfront watering hole, or some of the works of talented artists/artisans that the city harbours.
Timms’ Hobart is not exactly my Hobart, but it is here that I feel at home in a safe, nurturing environment that is reasonably slow paced compared to the recently visited uber-cosmopolitan Sydney. It will sustain the years I have left to me.
‘In Search of Hobart’ is a fine read, balanced and thought-provoking for those of us who call ourselves Tasmanians (as opposed to Australians).
Being one of a series on our state capitals, it makes me eager to read Sophie Cunningham’s take on Melbourne, another city I am reasonably familiar with, as well as linked treatises on less known Brisbane and Sydney. I wonder if Canberra will receive the ‘going over’ as well?
My own life in Hobart, when I can get there, is quite blissful. The location of writing this is a little home right by the river on the rurban fringe of town. Yet I am ten minutes away from MONA and twenty from the CBD. I look up to forested hills down from which sea eagles occasionally swoop to observe my solitary, but joyous, perambulations. It doesn’t take much to imagine those hills sheltering the First Tasmanians, the original fringe dwellers of white settlement or skulking thylacine. Conversely I can quickly transform into a city habitué checking out the latest book launch at Fullers, the footy at a favourite waterfront watering hole, or some of the works of talented artists/artisans that the city harbours.
Timms’ Hobart is not exactly my Hobart, but it is here that I feel at home in a safe, nurturing environment that is reasonably slow paced compared to the recently visited uber-cosmopolitan Sydney. It will sustain the years I have left to me.
‘In Search of Hobart’ is a fine read, balanced and thought-provoking for those of us who call ourselves Tasmanians (as opposed to Australians).
March 8, 2018
This book has made me want to re-visit the charming city of Hobart.
August 30, 2021
Who would have thought! What a surprise. I loved this book. It gives great insight into a city I often visit and is a very readable - history book - of sorts.
December 22, 2017
A lovely little book about the capital of Tasmania, with quotes from inhabitants and visitors from the time of the white settlers to today. It is not quite fair to compare Hobart to Sydney and Melbourne, but the city still manages to shine through as a fantastic place well worth visiting. Especially for those who seek pure nature, peace and quiet and small town benefits of small to no crowds and little traffic. The book left with me with an image of myself in a small cafe in Hobart, enjoying a quiet time with a book and a great cup of coffee. A great read and inspiration for travel.
March 18, 2024
‘What a place to be!’
Hobart, the state capital of Tasmania, is Australia’s smallest, second oldest and most southerly capital city. Greater Hobart had a population of 216,276 in 2011, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. As a consequence of its geographic setting, it’s both a long narrow city and a beautiful one. Divided by the Derwent River and overlooked by Mount Wellington, Hobart has a character all of its own.
In this book, Peter Timms explores the history of Hobart from the settlement at Sullivan’s Cove in 1804 to the present. This is less a history than it is a commentary on the influences that have shaped both Tasmania and Hobart (both good and bad) and what it is like to live in Hobart.
‘Tasmania, along with Outer Mongolia and Timbuktu, has long been seen a symbol of remoteness, whether of the mysterious, the enticing or the cruelly comic kind.’
While Tasmania is comparatively less remote these days because travel by both sea and air is less expensive than it was in the past, it is still an island some 240 kilometres (at its narrowest point) from the Australian mainland. Bass Strait can be both a physical and a psychical barrier to travel.
‘Hobart’s great paradox is that most of what people admire about it today is the result of poverty in the past.’
How true: many of Hobart’s public buildings would have been replaced in larger cities, which would be a great shame. Many of the small cottages of the 19th century are now regarded as highly desirable residences. And yet, there is a clash between old and new, and some of the new buildings are not at all sympathetic to their surroundings.
Hobart has the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Tasmania (one of Australia’s Sandstone Universities founded in 1890). Hobart also has Constitution Dock where the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race ends each year, the amazing Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) and a couple of terrific independent bookstores.
This is more an introduction to Hobart than it is a guidebook. It gives context and explanation rather than grid references and ratings. Peter Timms touches on Hobart’s suburban sprawl, and the problems created in some areas where public housing is concentrated.
I found the book very interesting. The narrative is supported by anecdotes and interviews. Although I grew up in Tasmania, like many from the north of the island I spent very little time in the south. Hobart was seen as the seat of government, a source of bureaucratic interference, a place to be avoided rather than enjoyed. I visited Hobart briefly last year, and this book confirms what that visit hinted: I need to spend more time in Hobart both exploring the past and enjoying the present. It’s not the city I remembered from the 1970s: it’s a more diverse and interesting place.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Hobart, the state capital of Tasmania, is Australia’s smallest, second oldest and most southerly capital city. Greater Hobart had a population of 216,276 in 2011, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. As a consequence of its geographic setting, it’s both a long narrow city and a beautiful one. Divided by the Derwent River and overlooked by Mount Wellington, Hobart has a character all of its own.
In this book, Peter Timms explores the history of Hobart from the settlement at Sullivan’s Cove in 1804 to the present. This is less a history than it is a commentary on the influences that have shaped both Tasmania and Hobart (both good and bad) and what it is like to live in Hobart.
‘Tasmania, along with Outer Mongolia and Timbuktu, has long been seen a symbol of remoteness, whether of the mysterious, the enticing or the cruelly comic kind.’
While Tasmania is comparatively less remote these days because travel by both sea and air is less expensive than it was in the past, it is still an island some 240 kilometres (at its narrowest point) from the Australian mainland. Bass Strait can be both a physical and a psychical barrier to travel.
‘Hobart’s great paradox is that most of what people admire about it today is the result of poverty in the past.’
How true: many of Hobart’s public buildings would have been replaced in larger cities, which would be a great shame. Many of the small cottages of the 19th century are now regarded as highly desirable residences. And yet, there is a clash between old and new, and some of the new buildings are not at all sympathetic to their surroundings.
Hobart has the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Tasmania (one of Australia’s Sandstone Universities founded in 1890). Hobart also has Constitution Dock where the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race ends each year, the amazing Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) and a couple of terrific independent bookstores.
This is more an introduction to Hobart than it is a guidebook. It gives context and explanation rather than grid references and ratings. Peter Timms touches on Hobart’s suburban sprawl, and the problems created in some areas where public housing is concentrated.
I found the book very interesting. The narrative is supported by anecdotes and interviews. Although I grew up in Tasmania, like many from the north of the island I spent very little time in the south. Hobart was seen as the seat of government, a source of bureaucratic interference, a place to be avoided rather than enjoyed. I visited Hobart briefly last year, and this book confirms what that visit hinted: I need to spend more time in Hobart both exploring the past and enjoying the present. It’s not the city I remembered from the 1970s: it’s a more diverse and interesting place.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
September 25, 2013
I love Hobart and, for the most part, enjoyed reading this. At times it did seem to fit into its gloomy content and I confess to leaving it with about 80 pages to go.
January 27, 2022
History book, social text, guide book, travel memoir and engaging tales all rolled into one. This is the first book about Hobart that hasn't bored me or made me cringe. It is a great book. It's well written, thoroughly researched, insightful, wry and even funny.
Timms talks of the dark past of this place, including being a literal prison island in the convict era, the whaling history, and the periods of poverty over the centuries. He traces agricultural roots, migration trends and economic divides through to current day issues, including education, housing, crime and transport. He looks at cultural change over the centuries, even noting the role the weather has played in things from dress standards to tourism campaigns. He observes the connectedness and political activism that has flourished here. He examines the commercialisation of history for tourism purposes and the oft staunch reluctance to change until sheer pressure build-up bursts and swings far the other way. Citing examples throughout, he displays his extensive knowledge... down to local festivals and obscure disputes like the coffee roasting of 2006! He captures the insecurities, idiosyncrasies and immaturity in a respectful way and asks the reader to understand more about Hobart's past (and present), to be more self-assured and better inform the myriad of opinions held about the future path.
Timms talks of the dark past of this place, including being a literal prison island in the convict era, the whaling history, and the periods of poverty over the centuries. He traces agricultural roots, migration trends and economic divides through to current day issues, including education, housing, crime and transport. He looks at cultural change over the centuries, even noting the role the weather has played in things from dress standards to tourism campaigns. He observes the connectedness and political activism that has flourished here. He examines the commercialisation of history for tourism purposes and the oft staunch reluctance to change until sheer pressure build-up bursts and swings far the other way. Citing examples throughout, he displays his extensive knowledge... down to local festivals and obscure disputes like the coffee roasting of 2006! He captures the insecurities, idiosyncrasies and immaturity in a respectful way and asks the reader to understand more about Hobart's past (and present), to be more self-assured and better inform the myriad of opinions held about the future path.
January 6, 2018
As a local, I thought this book covered a goodly spectrum of thoughts about Tasmania's capital city, Hobart. It is concise and an ideal length. One thing Timms didn't pick up on (at least as I sped red:) was the parallel to Hobbit(own). I live 30 minutes east of Hobart and prior to that, 15 minutes south, so I have a little idea of the local differences. If you are visiting Hobart, this is a fair rendition of what to expect. I agree with 99% of his thoughts, specially those about the State Government (and Hobart Council on occasion), e.g., "The state government pays lip service to cultural pursuits for a quick look around Hobart's cultural and entertainment infrastructure reveals the hollowness of the rhetoric". More humour in the States logo - " 'Tasmania, explore the possibilities', suggesting perhaps, that extiction is one of the possibilities we are being invited to explore."
August 27, 2021
3.5
I enjoyed reading this book which discusses Hobart’s history, environment, culture and attitudes and how they’ve changed over time. I learned new things about a place I’ve visited many times over the years and it made me want to go back and explore.
I enjoyed reading this book which discusses Hobart’s history, environment, culture and attitudes and how they’ve changed over time. I learned new things about a place I’ve visited many times over the years and it made me want to go back and explore.
February 17, 2017
I like most of Australia’s capital cities, but – as many Australians do – I have a special fondness for Hobart. We like it because it is beautiful, intimate in scale and rich in interesting things to do and see. No other capital city lets tourists share such a wealth of treasures without much need of a car; though you need one to explore Mt Wellington, from a B&B in Battery Point I have spent half a dozen happy weekends mooching about on foot in the Salamanca district and the CBD while The Spouse attended conferences, and we were then able to walk to splendid restaurants without fear of a breathalyser to spoil our pleasure in the wine list. Hobart has all of a capital city’s amenities without the traffic, crowds and pollution. You can go to museums and art galleries; concerts and plays; historical tours and markets; and all of it tucked beside the charm of Constitution Dock and under the brooding majesty of Mt Wellington.
Peter Timms’ In Search of Hobart (2009) was the first contribution to the New South City Series; it was followed in due course by Brisbane by Matthew Condon and Sydney by Delia Falconer. I bought Melbourne by Sophie Cunningham when it came out in 2011 and Adelaide by Kerryn Goldsworthy in 2012. Others in the series are Canberra, Alice Springs, Perth and Darwin. My guess is that these books are very popular with tourists: they are compact reading, and can be read between cities on board the plane.
Timms’ is a recent convert to Hobart’s charms: he originally hails from Melbourne but has adopted Hobart as home and his affection for the city shows. Still, he has a criticism or two to offer, but he includes anecdotes and interviews with fellow-Hobartians so there is a diversity of opinion. His own background is as an art curator and critic of note, and – as you’d expect – he has some cross things to say about some of Hobart’s more recent architectural developments.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/02/18/i...
Peter Timms’ In Search of Hobart (2009) was the first contribution to the New South City Series; it was followed in due course by Brisbane by Matthew Condon and Sydney by Delia Falconer. I bought Melbourne by Sophie Cunningham when it came out in 2011 and Adelaide by Kerryn Goldsworthy in 2012. Others in the series are Canberra, Alice Springs, Perth and Darwin. My guess is that these books are very popular with tourists: they are compact reading, and can be read between cities on board the plane.
Timms’ is a recent convert to Hobart’s charms: he originally hails from Melbourne but has adopted Hobart as home and his affection for the city shows. Still, he has a criticism or two to offer, but he includes anecdotes and interviews with fellow-Hobartians so there is a diversity of opinion. His own background is as an art curator and critic of note, and – as you’d expect – he has some cross things to say about some of Hobart’s more recent architectural developments.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/02/18/i...
June 15, 2024
This book is excellent, and despite being ten years old it still feels current. It is both a love story to the city and a critique; the author explains how we got to where we are, suggests how things might improve and why they probably won't. He writes about post MONA Tasmania and speaks to many locals. The introduction did throw me; i expected a completely different book, a little like London, the Autobiography by Jon E Lewis where the entirety of is is extracts from other people's words. I loved this book.
October 14, 2013
Ties together the history and current mood of Hobart to give you an understanding of its unique situation.
Particularly enjoyed the description of the development of conservation politics in Tas, and the ambivalent relationship to this land and its history.
Read this while visiting the city & felt I understood it much more than if I'd read a guide book.
"As John Berger writes in Pig Earth 'the path is never behind. It is always on the side'." p145
"only in the city did people have opportunities to form groups, publish, communicate effectively with one another and negotiate directly with those in power. Unionists and politicians who sneer at 'urban greenies' fail to understand (or choose to ignore) this simple fact" p161
Particularly enjoyed the description of the development of conservation politics in Tas, and the ambivalent relationship to this land and its history.
Read this while visiting the city & felt I understood it much more than if I'd read a guide book.
"As John Berger writes in Pig Earth 'the path is never behind. It is always on the side'." p145
"only in the city did people have opportunities to form groups, publish, communicate effectively with one another and negotiate directly with those in power. Unionists and politicians who sneer at 'urban greenies' fail to understand (or choose to ignore) this simple fact" p161
January 12, 2016
This book is written from the perspective of a current resident but not native Hobartan. It is his impression of the city - how it is changing and where it has been. I wish I had read this book before my trip in SEP as I would have had some interesting insights and perhaps rearranged my travels in the city. That said, he makes a case for a burgeoning arts scene that gets traction without much government help and in many ways an indifference, all the while promoting the state as an arts incubator. He makes the case that the entrepreneur David Walsh has almost single handedly changed the arts landscape of Hobart and Tasmania with MONA and his MONAFONA festival. Worth a read if you plan a trip to Tassie.
December 19, 2010
Slightly pompous but still very readable account of life in Hobart, past and present, with all its sights, sounds and smells. Great explanations of how and why certain attitudes and differences developed. I loved his description of Hobart 'fashion' (Gore-Tex and beanies). And now I'm hoping more than ever that I get the chance to join the "conga line" of cars heading to the top of Mount Wellington to see Aurora Australis. Well worth a read for locals and visitors alike.
March 4, 2012
Thoroughly enjoyable perspective on a city that, for me, is one of the world's great treasures. "Too far south for spices", Abel Tasman wrote dismissively in 1642 on sighting the island now bearing his name, "and too close to the rim of the earth to be inhabited by anything but freaks and monsters". Perhaps, but what a wonderful place it is. Thanks Peter Timms for this evocative (and provocative) ramble around my home town.
January 11, 2014
I bought this on a whim while wandering the streets of Hobart in between sessions of a conference I was attending and I was instantly captivated. Rather than a dry chronology of the history of this State capital, it uses a series of perspectives and vignettes to talk of the evolution and development of the city. Perhaps because I was wandering the town in between chapters but it was so alive and fresh and I could almost feel the city sing around me with its history.
October 31, 2011
Evocative and interesting history of Hobart and Tasmania.
Less of a personal reminiscence than Melbourne and more academic in tone but worth reading.
Less of a personal reminiscence than Melbourne and more academic in tone but worth reading.
May 15, 2016
Very astute 'warts and all' perspective of Hobart that goes beyond the branded imagery and rosy nostalgia.
August 24, 2022
Loved this little gem. Many insights into the little city I now call home. Peter Timms is a sensitive writer and I loved how he wove obscure facts and ordinary things into a comfy yet stylish jumper.
May 27, 2010
Excellent Pro's and Con's review of Hobart
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews