'A fictional recreation of one of the greatest voyages of discovery ever made, by award-winning author Anthony Hill.
'The enthralling story of Captain Cook's voyage to Australia, as seen through the eager eyes of a cabin boy.
'When young Isaac Manley sailed on the Endeavour from England in 1768, no one on board knew if a mysterious southern continent existed in the vast Pacific Ocean. It would be a voyage full of uncertainties and terrors.
'During the course of the three-year journey, Isaac’s eyes are opened to all the brutal realities of life at sea – floggings, storms, press-gangs, the deaths of fellow crewmen, and violent clashes on distant shores.
'Yet Isaac also experiences the tropical beauty of Tahiti, where he becomes enchanted with a beautiful Tahitian girl. He sees the wonders of New Zealand, and he is there when the men of Endeavour first glimpse the east coast of Australia, anchor in Botany Bay, and run aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
'Acclaimed and award-winning historical novelist Anthony Hill brings to life this landmark voyage with warmth, insight and vivid detail in this exciting and enlightening tale of adventure and discovery. ' (Publication summary)
Teacher's notes from publisher's website.
'Journals of the earliest British visitors to Australian shores facilitated the creation of the image of Australian Indigenous nations as savage, primitive and inferior in every aspect of their appearance and their way of life to both Europeans and indigenous peoples of other lands. In 1688, William Dampier described the inhabitants of “New Holland” as “the miserablest people in the world … having no [sic] one graceful feature in their faces.” In 1770, James Cook found the natives’ canoes “the worst … [he] ever saw” (A New Voyage ch. 16). The encounter took a hostile turn when beads and nails thrown at their feet failed to impress Aboriginal people and pave the way for a peaceful landing. Prejudiced descriptions and opinions justified European colonisation of Australia and dispossession of indigenous peoples. It took more than two centuries to revise those views. Literature was a powerful tool of colonisation and in turn was used by the colonised to oppose the coloniser. In this article, literature is examined as a tool for adopting fresh perspectives in education of new generations of young people in Australia about Cook’s discoveries on the Endeavour journey. The paper examines two children’s novels—The Goat Who Sailed the World by Jackie French (2006) and Captain Cook’s Apprentice by Anthony Hill (2008)—in order to demonstrate that these novels can be extremely important in educational, cultural and socio-political terms because they open the ground for a discussion of ideologies, social behaviour and cultural values in classroom, and thereby can contribute to the ongoing process of reconciliation in Australia.'
Source: Abstract.
'Journals of the earliest British visitors to Australian shores facilitated the creation of the image of Australian Indigenous nations as savage, primitive and inferior in every aspect of their appearance and their way of life to both Europeans and indigenous peoples of other lands. In 1688, William Dampier described the inhabitants of “New Holland” as “the miserablest people in the world … having no [sic] one graceful feature in their faces.” In 1770, James Cook found the natives’ canoes “the worst … [he] ever saw” (A New Voyage ch. 16). The encounter took a hostile turn when beads and nails thrown at their feet failed to impress Aboriginal people and pave the way for a peaceful landing. Prejudiced descriptions and opinions justified European colonisation of Australia and dispossession of indigenous peoples. It took more than two centuries to revise those views. Literature was a powerful tool of colonisation and in turn was used by the colonised to oppose the coloniser. In this article, literature is examined as a tool for adopting fresh perspectives in education of new generations of young people in Australia about Cook’s discoveries on the Endeavour journey. The paper examines two children’s novels—The Goat Who Sailed the World by Jackie French (2006) and Captain Cook’s Apprentice by Anthony Hill (2008)—in order to demonstrate that these novels can be extremely important in educational, cultural and socio-political terms because they open the ground for a discussion of ideologies, social behaviour and cultural values in classroom, and thereby can contribute to the ongoing process of reconciliation in Australia.'
Source: Abstract.
