- Title:
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The Dig Tree
- Written by:
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Sarah Murgatroyd
- Read by:
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Catherine Milte
- Format:
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Unabridged CD Audio Book
- Number of CDs:
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11
- Duration:
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12 hours 25 minutes
- Published:
-
December 01 2009
- Available Date:
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June 28 2011
- Age Category:
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Adult
- ISBN:
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9781742334608
- Genres:
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Non-fiction; Australian
- Publisher:
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Bolinda audio
Qty
Format
Price
Bolinda price
UK Author
In this spell-binding book, Sarah Murgatroyd reveals new historical and scientific evidence to tell the story of the ill-fated Burke and Wills Expedition in 1860.
Wills knew that he was fading fastest. On 26 June, he decided the only honourable thing to do was to sacrifice himself to save his companions. ‘Without some change,’ he wrote, ‘I see little chance for any of us.’
In 1860, an eccentric Irish police officer named Robert O'Hara Burke led a cavalcade of camels, wagons and men out of Melbourne. Accompanied by William Wills, a shy English scientist, he was prepared to risk everything to become the first European to cross the Australian continent.
A few months later, an ancient coolibah tree at Cooper Creek bore a strange carving: Dig Under 3ft NW. Burke, Wills and five other men were dead. The expedition had become an astonishing tragedy.
Sarah Murgatroyd reveals new historical and scientific evidence to tell the story of the disaster with all its heroism and romance, its discoveries, coincidences and lost opportunities.
'A thrilling yarn ... Excellent.'
The Independent
‘It is the delicious tales of the political machinations … the competing reputations of statehood and the interests of 19th-century big business which make such gripping reading.’
The Herald Sun
'Instinctive and convincing.'
The Times Literary Supplement
'All Australian history should be this good.'
The Age
'Sarah Murgatroyd deftly captures the foolishness, suffering and hapless heroism of one of the 19th-century's least-known, but most epic, undertakings. I can almost guarantee that you will be biting your nails by the time you reach The Dig Tree of the title – and more than that I cannot say without spoiling this remarkable and addictive tale.'
Bill Bryson