[CUB]≡ PDF Free The Dig Tree A True Story of Bravery Insanity and the Race to Discover Australia Wild Frontier Sarah Murgatroyd 9780767908283 Books

The Dig Tree A True Story of Bravery Insanity and the Race to Discover Australia Wild Frontier Sarah Murgatroyd 9780767908283 Books

Download As PDF : The Dig Tree A True Story of Bravery Insanity and the Race to Discover Australia Wild Frontier Sarah Murgatroyd 9780767908283 Books

The Dig Tree A True Story of Bravery Insanity and the Race to Discover Australia Wild Frontier Sarah Murgatroyd 9780767908283 Books

The Australian Encyclopedia renders a clear verdict on the Burke-Wills Expedition. ..."largely owing to Burke's impatient temperament and complete ignorance of bushcraft, it failed hopelessly." Ms. Murgatroyd fully justifies this verdict; but how did such a man (perhaps best known for his ability to get lost) come to lead an expedition across an empty continent? The architects of the disaster were the members of Australia's Royal Society who combined incompetence with greed. One might also ask why Burke would accept such a mission. He was a man desperate to become famous and to impress the teenage actress he was infatuated with. The actual expedition is described in exciting detail. No less interesting are the questions that remain. This is a book to be read and thought about.


Tags : The Dig Tree: A True Story of Bravery, Insanity, and the Race to Discover Australia's Wild Frontier [Sarah Murgatroyd] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>The harrowing true story of the Burke and Willis expedition team who took on the Australian wilds 150 years ago--and lost.</b> They departed Melbourne's Royal Park in the summer of 1860,Sarah Murgatroyd,The Dig Tree: A True Story of Bravery, Insanity, and the Race to Discover Australia's Wild Frontier,Broadway,0767908287,Australia;Discovery and exploration.,Australia,Australia & New Zealand - General,Burke and Wills Expedition, 1860-1861,Discovery and exploration,Expeditions & Discoveries,GENERAL,General Adult,History,History - General History,History Australia & New Zealand,HistoryWorld,History: World,Non-Fiction,Oceania,United States,Burke and Wills Expedition, 18

The Dig Tree A True Story of Bravery Insanity and the Race to Discover Australia Wild Frontier Sarah Murgatroyd 9780767908283 Books Reviews

Australia's desolate interior evokes much legend. Dominating the legends are the traverses of European explorers in the region. Among these legends, that of Burke and Wills retains a lofty status, one Sarah Murgatroyd may have forever toppled. She has given the tradition of explorer heroics a strenuous airing with this book. Few reputations are left unsmirched, but her real assault centres on the incompetence of the expedition's leader, Robert O'Hara Burke.
The author relates how Burke left Melbourne, Victoria, in 1860 with several ambitions, muddled instructions and devoid of capabilities to manage the task. Behind his straggling team were a cabal of businessmen intent on extending Victoria's borders. Beyond that, they also hoped to initiate a telegraph line route to Asia, thence to London. In competition with Adelaide to the west, both cities had sponsored expeditions to traverse the continent from south to north. Others had made the attempt, but the travails of crossing a land intolerant of blundering had thwarted them all. Burke was aware of a major competitor in the figure of Charles McDouall Stuart who had nearly succeeded before turning back. Burke, among other things, saw the enterprise as a race - which he intended to win.
Murgatroyed demonstrates how that aspect, among others, doomed the expedition from the beginning. Burke's undue haste led to launching the trek at the worst time of year. He quarreled with subordinates, sacked members of the team and scorned delays occasioned by scientific studies. His fatal error was in dividing the group, ultimately leaving most of his companions behind to make a dash to the northern sea. It was the fragmenting of the expedition that led to conflicting priorities and delays. In the end, not able to actually observe the sea, three survivors of the dash north returned to the rendezvous point to find the word "Dig" carved in a tree. It wasn't enough to save the two leaders surviving the journey.
In analysing Burke's actions, Murgatroyd contrasts them with others, some having set out to rescue the lost venturers. As she points out, the business leaders of Melbourne enhanced the already general view that the only thing considered more "heroic than a successful explorer was a dead one." Melbourne now had two in Burke and his subordinate William Wills. The legend of their heroism was almost manufactured by those who'd sponsored the expedition. The hagiography surrounding the pair has persisted in strength for over a century.
Murgatroyd dispels that idolatry effectively. She cannot be faulted for viewing the past with modern eyes as some are led to do. As a journalist's account, the book is not footnoted, although she provides a good reading list. Her style is open and forthright, keeping the reader close to the events related. She speculates but little, and her judgements are conveyed in sharp contrast. Various persona are portrayed in scathing terms. Even those driven by events escape but narrowly. Her account will dismay some, but none sink into ennui. Her rendition of a complex story makes excellent reading. Her loss to journalism is severe.
The late Sarah Murgatroyd has written a well researched and poignant account of this tragic expedition. Though l hesitate to use the word expedition, as it was poorly led and planned, perhaps a mad rush in the bush is a better description. Many times as a child l used to gaze at the statue of Burke and Wills, (Melbourne is my home town), when l visited the Museum and wondered how they died and why was that statue there. My schoolbooks portrayed them as tragic heroes, but l felt sorry for John King as these books seemed to minimize his achievement of survival

This book finally gives King the credit he deserves for his amazing survival and the tenacious ability he displayed to achieve this. Unfortunately his health was broken by the experience and he suffered much mental angiush for the remainder of his short life. This anguish, l suspect, derived from the charade he was forced to be a part of upon his return to Melbourne.

He was very critical of the Exploration Committee on the way back to Melbourne after his rescue but was stunned by the reception he received in Victoria on the way back to Melbourne where he was lauded as some type of hero. It was just too much for this quiet and unassuming man. He had to play along and hold his true thoughts about the Exploration Committee to himself. He was up against too much public emotion and powerful interests to upset the applecart, l also believe he felt very guilty about his survival.

This book captures the vastness and emptiness of the Australian interior and yet also describes the beauty of the outback. I have lived in the outback myself while working at remote weather stations. The description of the climate, landscape and vegetation of the part of the outback that the expedition traversed is concise and correct.

This book also gives an account of the expeditions of the explorer; the very able and resourceful John Macdouall Stuart and gives him the credit he richly deserves as a an explorer and a surveyor.
Haven't read this "used" book yet but on skimming it , it looks great. In very good shape. I did see the movie and want the book to fill out the history.
fascinating
For those of us who are not Australians, The Dig Tree provides a look into an iconic moment in exploration of that continent. The tale is highly engaging, and all-in-all is well written. Occasionally Murgatroyd ventures off to the side of the main narrative, and seems to be adding fluff to fill the story line, but in the end, all those sidetracks clearly are well connected to the story. Not only was the story itself interesting, but the book also offers a considerable amount of information about the physical landscape of interior Australia that most stateside folks lack. This is a book well worth reading both for information and for enjoyment.
The Australian Encyclopedia renders a clear verdict on the Burke-Wills Expedition. ..."largely owing to Burke's impatient temperament and complete ignorance of bushcraft, it failed hopelessly." Ms. Murgatroyd fully justifies this verdict; but how did such a man (perhaps best known for his ability to get lost) come to lead an expedition across an empty continent? The architects of the disaster were the members of Australia's Royal Society who combined incompetence with greed. One might also ask why Burke would accept such a mission. He was a man desperate to become famous and to impress the teenage actress he was infatuated with. The actual expedition is described in exciting detail. No less interesting are the questions that remain. This is a book to be read and thought about.