The Dig Tree cover art

The Dig Tree

A True Story of Bravery, Insanity, and the Race to Discover Australia's Wild Frontier

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The Dig Tree

By: Sarah Murgatroyd
Narrated by: Catherine Milte
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About this listen

In 1860, an eccentric Irish police officer named Robert O'Hara Burke led a cavalcade of camels, wagons and men out of Melbourne. Accompanied by William Wills, a shy English scientist, he was prepared to risk everything to become the first European to cross the Australian continent. A few months later, an ancient coolibah tree at Cooper Creek bore a strange carving: 'Dig Under 3ft NW'. Burke, Wills and five other men were dead. The expedition had become an astonishing tragedy.

Sarah Murgatroyd reveals new historical and scientific evidence to tell the story of the disaster with all its heroism and romance, its discoveries, coincidences, and lost opportunities. This is a spell-binding book.

©2002 Sarah Murgatroyd (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Australia, New Zealand & Oceania Expeditions & Discoveries Oceania World

Critic Reviews

"Sarah Murgatroyd deftly captures the foolishness, suffering and hapless heroism of one of the 19th-century's least-known, but most epic, undertakings. I can almost guarantee that you will be biting your nails by the time you reach the Dig Tree of the title - and more than that I cannot say without spoiling this remarkable and addictive tale." (Bill Bryson)
"Conveys an experts grasp of her material. The Dig Tree is unlikely to be superseded...instinctive and convincing." ( Times Literary Supplement)
"Sarah Murgatroyd was a splendid writer. This book is a masterpiece of exploration history - entertaining, trenchant, a marvel." ( National Geographic)
All stars
Most relevant  
loved the writing and reading, provides an insight into early exploration and the arrogance of early white settlement and failure to understand the country and its inhabitants.

Thought provoking

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This is a really detailed and engaging telling of the whole tragic story of Burke and Wills set against the inter colonial rivalries to explore the interior of the continent. I really enjoyed it!

Great story

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Fascinating history which reads like a story. Heroic Pioneers of Australia and moving descriptions of the care local Indigenous people bestowed on explorers.
Catherine excels as the Narrator.

Great Book.

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Good story but not amazingly great like others I have heard. Interesting facts within but very dry ( no pun intended)

Good but not great

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Excellent and engaging. Far from boring. I couldn't wait to get back and listen further This was history that I didn't know all of the details of.

Loved it

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Good book to understand Australian history and culture in the 1860s
The political influences and influences of the time

An interesting tale of bravery, foolishness and disaster

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I returned this book as I could not stay engaged. I prefer my historical fiction to be a story using the facts. This story was told very factually, like a school textbook.

Very slow and not enough story

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.