The Life of Matthew Flinders

‘In Estensen, Flinders has at last found his Boswell.’
Paul Brunton, The Weekend Australian

Estensen’s book is a work of painstaking scholarship, worn lightly
it will be an enduring contribution to Australian history.‘ Gillian Dooley, Australian Book Review

Estensen gives us the ups and downs of the man in the commander’s jacket. She has taken an 18th century mariner and made a 21st century man of him.’ Martin Terry, Sydney Morning Herald

In 1790, a stubborn sixteen-year-old defied his father and went to sea. Here began the remarkable career of Matthew Flinders R.N., a career that ended in his fortieth year just days after the publication of A Voyage to Terra Australis, his life’s work detailing his epic voyage of circumnavigation of the Great South Land.

The Life of Matthew Flinders is a story of persistence and audacious risk-taking, driving ambition and frustration, obstinate determination and doubt. It is a richly detailed account of tragedy and short-lived triumph, of exile on an enemy island, of love thwarted and a painful early death. It is also the story of a man who became one of the great navigators of the nineteenth century, an adventurer who left an indelible mark on a continent and a nation.