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'Melbourne, 1871: John King is dying far from the deserts he traversed with the legendary Burke and Wills. Ten years on from that fateful expedition - the first to cross the Australian continent from south to north - King is finally ready to tell his story.The young Irishman had already endured the horrors of the Indian Mutiny when he signed on with the erratic Burke to explore a land he knew little about. As one of the advance group who were later abandoned by the rest of their party, King was with Wills as he penned his final letter; at Burke's side when he died. Then he was alone, the sole survivor, though barely alive when rescued by Alfred Howitt. But Howitt is a man who cannot let things be, and now he seems more inquisitor than saviour. He wants to know what King knows before it is too late . . .Effortlessly blending fact and fiction, this gripping novel brings to life the forgotten man of the most mythologised journey in Australia's history.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication: for Harold Attwood, who started me on this journey.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Fact and Fiction : How Caruso and Puccini Never Got to Melbourne
2009
single work
autobiography
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Summer no. 26 2009; (p. 234-241) -
Alan Attwood
James Phelan
(interviewer),
2005
single work
interview
— Appears in: Literati : Australian Contemporary Literary Figures Discuss Fear, Frustrations and Fame 2005; (p. 27-42) -
[Review] Burke's Soldier
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Winter vol. 12 no. 2 2004; (p. 42)
— Review of Burke's Soldier 2003 single work novel -
Trapped in the Present Tense
2003
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Age , 9 August 2003; (p. 8) -
The Long Trek
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 251 2003; (p. 48-49)
— Review of Burke's Soldier 2003 single work novel
-
[Review] Burke's Soldier
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , March vol. 82 no. 8 2003; (p. 30)
— Review of Burke's Soldier 2003 single work novel -
A Fogotten Hero Rediscovered
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 5-6 April 2003; (p. 11)
— Review of Burke's Soldier 2003 single work novel -
Burke Journey Finds Its Mark
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5-6 April 2003; (p. 10-11)
— Review of Burke's Soldier 2003 single work novel -
The Other Burke and Wills Story
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 5 April 2003; (p. 5)
— Review of Burke's Soldier 2003 single work novel -
King Among Soldiers
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 29 April vol. 121 no. 6370 2003; (p. 75)
— Review of Burke's Soldier 2003 single work novel -
The Third Man
2003
single work
essay
— Appears in: Good Weekend , 29 March 2003; (p. 49, 51-[52]) Alan Attwood discusses the life of John King, survivior of the Burke and Wills expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and explains why he used John King as his fictional hero for the novel Burkes's Soldier (Viking, 2003). -
Last Man Alive Becomes a Hero
2003
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 5 April 2003; (p. [1a]-2a) -
Trapped in the Present Tense
2003
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Age , 9 August 2003; (p. 8) -
Alan Attwood
James Phelan
(interviewer),
2005
single work
interview
— Appears in: Literati : Australian Contemporary Literary Figures Discuss Fear, Frustrations and Fame 2005; (p. 27-42) -
Fact and Fiction : How Caruso and Puccini Never Got to Melbourne
2009
single work
autobiography
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Summer no. 26 2009; (p. 234-241)
Awards
- 2004 shortlisted Commonwealth Writers Prize — South East Asia and South Pacific Region — Best Book
- Australian Outback, Central Australia,
- Melbourne, Victoria,
- 1860-1872