Outback

<p>In 1800 while the coast of Australia had finally been charted the vast interior of the continent and routes across its deserts and mountains from north to south and east to west lay all undiscovered. By 1874 its lands had been all but won. Derek Parkers new and exciting book gathers together the stories of those intrepid explorers who often against great odds on journeys of months or even years beat starvation inadequate information and mapping disease and loss to forge routes which would enable the country's development. From early explorers who were generally escaped convicts to the son of a Lincolnshire surgeon who coined the name Australia; from explorers Major Mitchell who slaughtered aborigines to Sir George Grey who learnt their language recorded their culture and came to love and understand them; and from the greatest overland expedition in Australian history in 1844 to continued failed attempts to find a mythical inland sea this is a fascinating read.</p>