Why read The Life of Matthew Flinders?

Book cover of The Life of Matthew Flinders

Book description

'In Estensen, Flinders has at last found his Boswell.' Paul Brunton, The Weekend AustralianEstensen's book is a work of painstaking scholarship, worn lightly it will be an enduring contribution to Australian history.' Gillian Dooley, Australian Book ReviewEstensen gives us the ups and downs of the man in the commander's jacket.…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Life of Matthew Flinders as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Richard de Grijs

Author

Matthew Flinders is an Australian hero but less well-known elsewhere. He was, ultimately, the person who gave Australia its name when the continent was more generally known as New Holland. He is most famous for his circumnavigation of the continent in H.M.S. Investigator in 1801–1803. Together with his younger brother, Samuel Ward Flinders, they undertook a monumental effort to map the Australian coastline and obtain careful latitude and longitude determinations. I am particularly intrigued by these significant feats in the face of serious adversity.

I, therefore, loved that Miriam Estensen goes deep into Matthew Flinders' persona in this thoroughly researched…

From Richard's list on The best books to make you think about perilous voyages halfway around the world.