The Explorers: Stories of Discovery and Adventure from the Australian Frontier | 
|  | | | Title: | The Explorers: Stories of Discovery and Adventure from the Australian Frontier | | Author: | Tim Flannery (Editor) | | Publisher: | Grove Press | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 30 October, 2000 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0802137199 / 9780802137197 | | List Price: | $14.00 | | You Save: | $2.80 | | Amazon Price: | $11.20 | |
 This book is also available, brand-new, from 3rd-party marketplace sellers at Amazon.com, from $7.57. |
The HTML code below can be pasted onto your web-site, your MySpace page, or blog - or any number of similar places - to create a link to this page: If, instead of a text link, you'd like to create a link to this page which will display the book cover, if it's available, then the code below will do exactly that:
Check for the same book at these other US book sites:
• [ Abebooks ] • [ Alibris ] • [ Barnes & Noble ] • [ Half.com ] • [ Powells ] … or check UK bookstores
| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
A lively collection of extraordinary stories of adventure and discovery, The Explorers tells the epic saga of the conquest and settlement of Australia. Editor Tim Flannery selects sixty-seven accounts that convey the sense of wonder and discovery, along with the human dimensions of struggle and deprivation, which occurred in the exploration of the last continent to be fully mapped by Europeans. Beginning with the story of Dutch captain Willem Janz's 1606 expedition at Cape York -- the bloody outcome of which would sadly foreshadow future relations between colonists and Aboriginal peoples -- and running through Robyn Davidson's 1977 camelback ride through the desolate Outback deserts, The Explorers bristles with the enterprise that Flannery explains as "heroic, for nowhere else did explorers face such an obdurate country."
| Other Items You May Enjoy:
Browse Books From These Related Subjects:
Customer Reviews:
• The Editor As Artist 02 June, 2003
My only criticism of Flannery's book is that it ends. I found myself wanting to read more of each story. But within a moment of turning to a new chapter, I was engrossed in another adventure. The Explorers is an outstanding selection of historical pieces and a fine example of the editor's art. First-person accounts like this truly offer a window into the minds and times of the people and places involved. (I recommend "Eyewitness to History" for those who enjoy this book.)
- Reviewed by customer ID: AA7EILCN1UU05
• Great Book To Start Reading About Australian Explorers 13 April, 2004
This is an anthology of excerpts from Australian Explorers journals ranging from early sixteenth century European Explorers to Australians in the early 20th century. Flannery's introduction for each provides an excellent, concise biography and set up to each explorer's excerpt. In many of the excerpts, an explorer faces death and disaster. The most intriguing initially was Charles Sturt writing of his attempt to find the mythical lake in the center of Australia. He brings a boat, experiences weather so hot it bursts a thermometer his party carries, they suffer from extreme scurvy, and Sturt's desire to be the first to reach the center of Australia. The second explorer I read in this collection was Ernest Giles. His except focuses on an expedition with his assistant Gibson, who goes for help and manages to get lost, and then Giles slowly makes his way back to base camp. Reading The Explorers fascinated me enough that I wanted to read more about specific explorers like Giles, but also about Australian explorers in general.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AYGEP8I4BQ3CK
• A Mark On History 06 January, 2001
Australia's small history makes a book like this diffifult to stay interested in. Of course, we are a lucky country fortunate enough to have prospered from these fine explorers and Flannery captures this brilliantly. But there is a time when the discoveries of a new animal or native remind the reader of how quickly one can lose their mind to something else as one can't help but take it for granted or compare their countries history with one far greater and more enlightening from a place such as Great Britain or America. However, Flannery is aiming to make Australian history sit right up there amongst the cream of the crop for a rich past - we as the reader know this isn't possible but feel a sense of pride in what these explorers did to help develop our free and thriving country. The author does not have much to contribute within the book. He writes a few brief footnotes or may stretch himself to an introduction of a small to mid paragraph for each. Yet, we must remind ourselves this is a history book so there is not much room for creativity. I suggest this book is worthwhile for someone passionate or interested in the Australian history, but if you are made to read this whether it be school or uni do it in sections. Otherwise, you will find it tedious. In the end you will find it rewarding - especially (as an Australian resident) when you next visit Botany Bay, Cape York or wherever it may be.......you will stop and think at just how lucky we are.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A6854SLB33FDB
• Great Read For Travel 17 May, 2002
This book consists of brief excerpts from journals, letters and diaries of those foolish or brave enough to push beyond the known world along Australia's seaboards. These explorers demonstrated unfathomable foolishness, unquenchable curiosity, bullheaded ethnocentricity, and, in too few cases, a passion for discovery for its own sake. As a reader you will be horrified, entertained, and enlightened by their adventures and misadventures.I just returned from a trip to Australia and took this book along with me to read. It was perfect for a visitor with little knowledge of Australian history beyond Hughes' "Fatal Shore" (another great read).
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3UG9FLOW25ZG
|
