Cirrus@Austlit

'I have researched the life and times of Matthew Flinders for nearly 20 years in order to raise the profile of this most important English explorer so that he might stand alongside the likes of James Cook, William Bligh, Arthur Phillip, and John Franklin. This review is written from that standpoint – with the added ingredient of including George Bass. This book, by Sydney-based teacher author and editor Josephine Bastion, is a first-class example, with some minor faults, of the history of the birth of Australia in the age of Enlightenment. It would have made a greater impact if it had been published in 2014 to coincide with the bicentenary of Flinders’ passing. Nevertheless, the account is a work of scholarship based on good research in the relevant archives. It is a pleasure to read, using prose that has been written to be read rather than to impress.' (Publication summary)