An Officer of the Blue: Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne, South Sea Explorer, 1724-1772 by Edward Duyker

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Light foxing on top foredge. Dust jacket has some light creasing at edges and spine. Interior and binding are still excellent.

French explorer Marion Dufresne was the man who reached Tasmania before the English. His expedition was the first to encounter the Tasmanian Aborigines and was a precursor of the great voyages of La Perouse, d'Entrecasteaux, Baudin and d'Urville.

France was not idle in her search for the Southland during James Cook's great expeditions. It is puzzling that Marion's name is absent from Australian and French reference works. His life of high adventure demands description - early success as a Breton corsair, a crucial part in the daring rescue from Scotland of Bonnie Prince Charlie, numerous voyages to the East, entrepreneurial boldness, discovery of the most westerly islands in the Indian Ocean and an early visit to New Zealand.

He was surely one of the most colourful characters in our maritime history, and his story is told here with verve and skill. To Australian and New Zealand readers, this elegant biography will be a reminder or a revelation of the international context in which the English explorations of their homelands took place.

The eighteenth-century conflict between Britain and France is mirrored in Marion Dufresne's life. The parallels with Cook are striking. Like his English contemporary, Marion was a brilliant mariner who proved his skills in merchant shipping before joining his nation's Royal Navy. Like Cook, he was involved in scientific efforts to observe the Transit of Venus and sought the Southland in uncharted waters. Finally, he, too, died tragically at the hands of Polynesians. (book flap)