The Life of Matthew Flinders by Miriam Estensen

Book Description

Secondhand. Fair condition. Significant wear to book corners and edges. Foxing and marks to foredges. Skew to spine. Dust jacket is in good condition with scuffing and minor tears. Now enclosed in a protective cover. Body text and binding are still in good condition. A readable rather than collectible copy.

Matthew Flinders (1774-1814) was just 17 when he first saw Terra Australis, and unlocking its mysteries would become the burning motivation for the rest of his short life, at times at terrible cost to himself and others.

Flinders joined the Royal Navy as a teenager, journeyed to Tahiti with Bligh's second and successful breadfruit voyage, fought the French in the Caribbean and the Atlantic and sailed with Australia's second governor, John Hunter, to the distant colony of New South Wales. The strange, unmapped continent captured his imagination, and exploring its uncharted shores became his life's central goal. Winning the support of the influential Joseph Banks, he received command of the HMS Investigator on an epic voyage to explore and chart the entire Australian coast.

The obstacles were incredible: a rotting ship, the perilous, little-known labyrinth of the Barrier Reef, storms, thirst, scurvy and dysentery, and eventually shipwreck, imprisonment and a nine-year absence from a beloved wife. Yet two hundred years ago, Flinders completed the first true circumnavigation of Australia, revealing its vastness and diversity and giving it the shape- and, to some extent, the name we see on maps today.

Miriam Estensen has drawn on numerous sources, some of which have only recently become available, to create a vivid picture of Matthew Flinders' life and voyages, as well as the world and people around him. Above all, it is a new and discerning look at the man himself. The story is engrossing, a tale of high adventure and unwavering commitment, courage, and sacrifice, triumph, and final tragedy. (publisher blurb)