Sarah Murgatroyd (1967–2002)

Sarah Murgatroyd's "The Dig Tree: A True Story of Bravery, Insanity and the Race to Discover Australia's Wild Frontier" is really an excellent book.

The book tells the story of the Burke and Wills expedition, which aimed to cross the Australian desert and fill in the wide, blank spaces on the map. Burke is portrayed as supremely bungling, which taints the successful completion of his goal, as does the fact he managed to kill both himself and eight other men.

The book really succeeds on Murgatroyd's talent as a writer. It's an interesting story with a huge cast of characters and she manages to make them all memorable and easy to tell apart. For someone who knows little about Australia's history, I found this book pretty fascinating.

My only quibble is I would have loved to hear more about the Aborigines, who kept the only survivor of the desert crossing alive.… (altro)

Thoroughly researched story of Burke and Wills. In 1860 an eccentric Irish police officer Robert Ohara Burke led a cavalcade of camels, wagons and men out of Melbourne accompanied by William Wills, a shy English scientist. Burke was prepared to risk everything to become the first European to cross the Australian continent. A few months later the expedition had become an astonshing tragedy.

Sarah Murgatroyd retraced these ill fated steps and reveals new evidence both historical and scientific to shed some light on what led to the disaster.
Well written and generously illustrated throughout highly recommended for anyone with an interest in early Australian history.… (altro)