Cooper's Creek: Tragedy and Adventure in the Australian Outback

Details about Cooper's Creek: Tragedy and Adventure in the Australian Outback:

This novel of Australia’s disastrous first wilderness expedition is “a fascinating well-told tale of heroism and adventure, told by a master of the craft” (Harper’s).   In 1860, an expedition set out from Melbourne, Australia, into the interior of the country, with the mission to find a route to the northern coast. Headed by Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills, the party of adventurers, scientists, and camels ventured into the outback hoping to find enough water and maintain adequate food stores for their long trek. Almost one year later, Burke, Wills, and two others from their party, Gray and King, reached the northern shore. Then, on their journey back, they were stranded at Cooper’s Creek where all but King perished.   Cooper’s Creek is a gripping, intense historical narrative about the harshness of the Australian outback and the people who were brave enough to go into the very depths of that uncharted country.