To the Inland Sea: Charles Sturt's Expedition 1844-45 by Edward Stokes

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Foxing to front endpage and half-title page. Minor marks on foredges. Previous owner has inscribed inside page. Body text and binding are still very good. Big coffee table size book.

In August 1844, Charles Sturt left Adelaide to search for an inland sea, despite strong evidence that none existed. What began as a journey of hope ended in bitter disappointment, for Sturt's theories led him to the Simpson Desert.

In 1984, Edward Stokes spent three months following the route of Sturt's expedition. He covered 10,000 kilometres of remote and often rugged terrain.

In this book, Stokes provides a superb evocation of the 1844-45 expedition, illustrating extracts from Sturt's journal with photographs of the landscape he traversed. The book was originally to be based on Sturt's Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia. Still, while researching at the National Library, Stokes discovered Sturt's handwritten daily journal, which revealed much more of Sturt's character and the expedition's fortune than his official narrative. (book flap)