"There is a strength in this tale of adventure. The rugged, simple strength of achievement, endeavour, battle, and defeat. This enthralling yarn of the roaring fifties deals with the great gold rushes of that time. It is a faithful picture of the goldfields during the years immediately following the first discoveries, and many of the incidents related are vouched for as truth by the author. Mr Busse's family have dwelt in the district for over seventy years and he has been at pains to verify his facts before weaving them into the fabrication of his novel.
The Golden Plague is a memorable yarn of adventure; gripping in its excitement; vastly interesting in its truth and beautiful in its portrayal of the friendship of one man for another." (Publisher blurb, dust jacket, Hutchinson 1930)
