Born at the end of the Age of Enlightenment and growing up as Romanticism took hold of European culture, Matthew Flinders was the embodiment of these seemingly irreconcilable movements. His achievements as a navigator and leader are impressive, but he was much more than an action hero, idolised by generations of admirers.

In Matthew Flinders: The Man Behind the Map Gillian Dooley looks to the primary sources to discover Flinders as a friend, a son, a brother, a father and a husband; as a writer, a researcher, a reader, and a musician - and above all as a romantic scientist.