Australian Navigators: Picking Up Shells and Catching Butterflies in an Age of Revolution

Kangaroo Press / Simon and Schuster Australia, 2002. Softcover. Very Good (Used copy). MARITIME AUSTRALIANA EXPLORATION Why, in the closing decades of the 1700s, one of the bloodiest periods in European history, did sailors from the warring nations of Britain and France come to this far-flung corner of the world in an attempt to chart coastlines in the Pacific, including Australia? Why engage in such a dangerous and potentially unrewarding task when a much greater reward might be had fighting wars and sharing the rewards of glory, promotion and prize money? Mortality on these sea journeys was high. Very few of the French navigators survived their first major expedition to the Pacific, and very few of the British commanded more than one. Only one, William Bligh, ever achieved what could be regarded as comfortable retirement. A great deal has been written about many of these navigators - Bouganville, Cook, Bligh, Bass, Baudin and Flinders - often in weighty volumes. This book does not try to emulate such efforts. Instead it seeks to address the spirit of the era, to examine afresh the personal ambitions of these navigators, the quite often different goals of their political patrons and backers, and the reasons why they did or did not succeed. In portraying their frailty and their tenacity author Robert Tiley has produced a fascinating study of lives as relevant now as they were then. xi, 243 p., [8] p. of plates : maps ; 24 cm. Bibliography: p. 237-240. #110224 Explorers -- Australia Australia -- History -- To 1788 Australia -- Discovery and exploration Elizabeth's Bookshops have been one of Australia's premier independent book dealers since 1973. Elizabeth's family-owned business operates four branches in Perth CBD, Fremantle (WA), and Newtown (NSW). All orders are dispatched within 24 hours from our Fremantle Warehouse. All items can be viewed at Elizabeth's Bookshop Warehouse, 23 Queen Victoria Street\, Fremantle WA. Softcover Very Good (Used copy)