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The Great Race
- The Race Between the English and the French to Complete the Map of Australia
- Narrated by: Paul English
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
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The Great Race
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Publisher's Summary
On the afternoon of 8 April 1802, in the remote southern ocean, two explorers had a remarkable chance encounter. Englishman Matthew Flinders and Frenchman Nicolas Baudin had been sent by their governments on the same quest: to explore the uncharted coast of the great south land and find out whether the west and east coasts, four thousand kilometres apart, were part of the same island. And so began the race to compile the definitive map of Australia.
These men’s journeys were the culmination of two hundred years of exploration of the region by the Dutch - most famously Abel Tasman - the Portuguese, the Spanish and by Englishmen such as the colourful pirate William Dampier and, of course, James Cook. The three-year voyages of Baudin and Flinders would see them endure terrible hardships in the spirit of discovery. They suffered scurvy and heat exhaustion, and Flinders was shipwrecked and imprisoned - always knowing he was competing with the French to produce the first map of this mysterious continent.
Written from diaries and other first-hand accounts, this is the thrilling story of men whose drawings recorded countless previously unknown species and turned mythical creatures into real ones, and whose skill and determination enabled Terra Australis Incognita to become Australia.
Critic Reviews
What listeners say about The Great Race
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 24-06-2019
very informative I enjoyed listening to the whole
I love listening to the whole book you gave me great insight into the coastline that I have lived on and voted on for many years and the extraordinary lives of those who navigated and Maps around it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Michael
- 24-02-2016
Thank You Flinders & Baudin
What a fantastic book for an Aussie to read. Don't miss this important part of our history.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymon
- 03-07-2019
Very interesting
I love the exploration history of Australia and this added further to that interest. I was not aware of the English and French almost simultaneously setting out to map the coast of Australia. At one stage toward the middle of the book I almost gave up because of the many and varied French names of explorers and ship names. It’s a book that can easily be heard twice,since it contains so much information.
Paul English is a great narrator, who makes a huge difference to a story.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Ben
- 09-07-2021
history on europeans exploration of aus
super interesting stuff here. going through the dutch, french and english exploration of australia. concludes with matthew flinders circumnavigation. didn't realise the french beat him to publishing there own map. seems like we were pretty close to being a lot more like canada if the french were better able to defend their declarations here.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 08-09-2021
Great Book
This is a excellent book if you are interested in the history and politics around the discovery of Australia.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 22-12-2022
Great story
Learned heaps about Flinders and indeed the story of Australia
Great listen recommended listening for any Australian
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