| The Great Race - The Race Between the English and the French to Complete the Map of Australia
(2014)
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| Front Cover |
Book Details |
|
| Genre |
Non-Fiction |
| Subject |
Flinders, Matthew, 1774-1814; Baudin, Nicolas, 1754-1803; Explorers - France - History; Explorers - Great Britain - History; Coastal Mapping - Australia - History; Australia - Discovery And Exploration - British; Australia - Discovery And Exploration - French |
| Publication Date |
7/3/2014 |
| Format |
Hardcover (9.4
x
6.1
mm)
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| Publisher |
Little Brown Books Group |
| Language |
English |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
|
| Description |
| On the afternoon of 8 April 1802, in the remote southern ocean, two explorers had a remarkable chance encounter. Englishman Matthew Flinders and Frenchman Nicolas Baudin had been sent by their governments on the same quest: to explore the uncharted coast of the great south land and find out whether the west and east coasts, four thousand kilometres apart, were part of the same island. And so began the race to compile the definitive map of Australia. These men's journeys were the culmination of two hundred years of exploration of the region by the Dutch - most famously Abel Tasman - the Portuguese, the Spanish and by Englishmen such as the colourful pirate William Dampier and, of course, James Cook. The three-year voyages of Baudin and Flinders would see them endure terrible hardships in the spirit of discovery. They suffered scurvy and heat exhaustion, and Flinders was shipwrecked and imprisoned - always knowing he was competing with the French to produce the first map of this mysterious continent. Written from diaries and other first-hand accounts, this is the thrilling story of men whose drawings recorded countless previously unknown species and turned mythical creatures into real ones, and whose skill and determination enabled Terra Australis Incognita to become Australia. |
| Personal Details |
| Store |
AbeBooks |
| Purchase Price |
$7.49 |
| Acquire Date |
3/7/2019 |
| Condition |
Very Good/Very Good |
| Rating |
0 |
| Links |
Library of Congress
|
|
| Product Details |
| LoC Classification |
DU115.2.F57 H55 2013 |
| Dewey |
919.4042 |
| ISBN |
9781408706428 |
| No. of Pages |
386 |
| First Edition |
No |
| Rare |
No |
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| Notes/Review |
I found out about this book from one of my Goodreads connections. The author's name immediately caught my eye. But I wouldn't have read it just because he is my namesake. I read a lot of history and the subject of exploration interests me. And as I don't know much about Australian history, it seemed a reasonable introduction.
If you'd have asked me prior to reading this if the outlines of the world's continents was known by the time of American Independence I'd have said "yes". But I'd have been off by a couple of decades. The major events of this book take place at roughly the same time as the Louis and Clark expeditions. By this time, then, Europeans were nearly done mapping the earth. This is the story of the "race" to map Australia. It's the race not just to sail around New Holland and New South Wales but to gain the acclaim of mapping (almost) the last unknown coasts in the world.
The book starts with a few chapters of history to provide the context for the race. The explorers in this book were not the first, obviously, to sail some of these waters. So we learn about who their predecessors were, where they went, and a bit of their fates.
The bulk of the book switches back and forth between the English and French expeditions. I found it a fascinating story. These men faced all sorts of hardships and challenges. Although most European nations at the time allowed such expeditions to proceed in spite of politics, it was a time of war and the war did impact the results. You see, it wasn't just a race to actually map the coast but a race to publish the results. It didn't matter much if you were there first, if you couldn't tell everybody what you saw.
Includes maps, notes, bibliography, and index. |
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