Banned: Tales from the Bizarre History of Australian Obscenity (James Cockington, ABC Books, $29.95 tpb, ISBN 073331502X, June) ***

Looking back from a 21st-century perspective, the things that Australians have got themselves het up over in the past seem incredibly trivial: the times at which bathing could occur at public beaches; appropriate attire for said bathing; films and still photos depicting nudity and sex. In these days of g-strings on display in the street and Anatomie de l’enfer available for rent at Blockbuster, the drama all comes across as comical. It is with a tone of gentle mocking that Cockington approaches his subject. He skims through 100-odd years of Australian history with the hook that the things of which we were afraid tell others the most about what we valued. However, he offers no analysis of the various scandals, but instead simply collects a series of anecdotes and ‘where are they now?’ vignettes to amuse the modern reader. I had hoped for more than this from this book. For a reader with a historical bent, it provides a snapshot that may encourage you to delve deeper and do your own research. It is well-written and enjoyable, but pretty light. Not up to the calibre of someone like Mark Kurlansky, it’s more of a Schott’s Miscellany with a narrative.