Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
The harrowing true story of the Burke and Willis expedition team who took on the Australian wilds 150 years ago--and lost.They departed Melbourne's Royal Park in the summer of 1860, a misfit party of eighteen amateur explorers cheered on by thousands of well-wishers. Their mission: to chart a course across the vast unmapped interior of Australia, from Melbourne to the northern coast. Months later, only one man returned alive--with tales of heroism, hardships, and lost opportunities that were by turns terrifying and darkly comic.Drawing its title from one of the few remaining traces of the expedition, The Dig Tree combines the danger of Sebastian Junger with the irony of Bill Bryson to relive the tragic journey of these completely initiated adventurers. The cast of characters includes the expeditionleader; a reckless, charming Irish policeman known for getting lost on his way home from the pub; an eccentric nature enthusiast from Germany; an alcoholic camel handler; and a rogue American horse-breaker who is just in it for the money. For nine harrowing months, their quest for glory shifts from idiocy to perseverance and then inexorably toward tragedy. The nightmare culminates in a last haunting message left behind a group of desperate and dying men--the word DIG carved into what is now Australia's most famous tree.The Dig Tree follows this compelling journey through a forgotten corner of history to examine a daring expedition that came unbelievably close to success only to let it slip away.From the Hardcover edition.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
Showing 7 featured editions. View all 7 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1 |
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
2
The Dig Tree: The Story of Burke and Wills
2003, The Text Publishing Company
Paperback
1877008796 9781877008795
|
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
3
The Dig Tree
January 6, 2003, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Paperback
in English
- New Ed edition
0747562989 9780747562986
|
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
4 |
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
5 |
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
6
The Dig Tree: A True Story of Bravery, Insanity, and the Race to Discover Australia's Wild Frontier
September 10, 2002, Broadway
Hardcover
in English
- 1st Broadw edition
0767908287 9780767908283
|
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
7 |
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
First Sentence
"When Captain James Cook stood on the deck of the Endeavour in March 1770 and felt the hot dry winds filling her sails off Australia's southern coast, he declared that the country's interior would be nothing but desert."
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?October 10, 2020 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
July 22, 2019 | Edited by MARC Bot | remove fake subjects |
July 14, 2017 | Edited by Mek | adding subject: Internet Archive Wishlist |
May 22, 2012 | Edited by ImportBot | import new book |
December 10, 2009 | Created by WorkBot | add works page |