'Arthur Phillip was a career soldier, a mercenary and a spy for the British Empire long before he captained the First Fleet and founded Sydney. Through meticulous research, Michael Pembroke has discovered the amazing story behind Australia's first Governor, Arthur Phillip. The story of Phillip's life takes us through wars with Spain and France, battles, court martials, and the taking of Havana from the Spanish. In his 20s he married a wealthy widow (with a pre-nup agreement) and briefly became a gentleman farmer. The marriage ended in divorce, before such a thing existed in England, but Phillip then became a successful merchant in France and likely spy for England. In 1774 he became a paid mercenary for the Portuguese navy at the behest of the Admiralty u his enemy again was Spain but now in South America. Upon his return to London some years later, the revolution in the American colonies triggered another war with France and then Spain as well. England faced the possibility of its first invasion since 1588 and Phillip became the commander of a 74 gun ship with a crew of 600 men defending the channel. Phillip is revealed to have undertaken secret missions for the Admiralty throughout his career and perhaps was among the first to be a part of the Secret Service. And finally it is revealed that the establishment of the colonies in New South Wales were an extension of Phillips work for England. A trusted and strategic thinker who would make sure that England ruled the waves.' (Publisher's blurb)
Epigraph:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
–William Shakespeare,
As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7
Botany Bay, it as been
argued, was meant as a
Gulag before Gulag...
Nothing could be further
from the truth.
–Alan Atkinson
The Europeans in Australia
Dedication:
For Gillian Rose
and
Olivia, Harriet, India & Nick
