Engrossing tale, spoiled only by turgid prose. Oh for an editor! ( )

This was an engaging, patriotic read. Macklin's style is scholarly yet populist, and draws on an earlier, unpublished work by his father-in-law, Robert Webster. The work includes photographs from the Cooma Cottage at Yass. Hume's story is interwoven with the history of colonial Australia and stories of the British "sterling" class who are now more familiar as place names. I enjoyed the style and I must say I was gripped by the story. I am undecided whether the poetic embellishments reduce the scholarly usefulness of the work, but the story certainly rouses a native-born Australian's regard for Hume the man, and his ultimate victory over the vainglorious Hovell and his claims over Hume's achievements. The backstory of Hume's friend, the famous explorer Charles Sturt, not to mention many of the famous early explorers, are revived in this work and go a long way to filling in the gaps provided by a nationalistic 1970s primary school education that appears now to be passé. My thoughts keep going back to Macklin's writing style, and that his father-in-law's work could not find a commercial publisher. As a reader, I appreciate Macklin's style, but it makes we wonder how much scholarly compromise is made when adapting such work for a popular audience. This is not a criticism of Macklin's style, but rather a recurring reflection for my own practice. While I am interested in Australian history and can enjoy reading scholarly historical accounts, I cannot help but wonder what has been lost in a retelling that results in a gripping yarn about an important but otherwise under-appreciated Australian explorer and bushman. At the same time, I wonder whether the story would have resurfaced had it not been written in such a style. I daresay one must simply choose and suffer the judgements of one's audience accordingly. ( )

Good story about one of Australia's few early explorers who was actually Australian-born. Hamilton Hume is mainly remembered today for Australia's most trafficked highway between Melbourne and Sydney which was named for him, but few know he, along, with the Scots naval officer William Hovell, opened up the land route between Sydney and Port Phillip and discovered Australia's richest farmlands in the process. Hume was unusual for the times, having a deep affinity for the land and the native people. His bushcraft saved the expedition members from dying, unfortunately credit for the discovery was later pilfered by Hovell, whose upper-class British connections ensured he got the lion's share of attention ahead of the Australian-born Hume, who in the expression of the time was "currency" compared to British-born "sterling". The book also gives a potted view of Australia's history during the convict era, giving a blow by blow account of the successes and failings of the various governors in their efforts to open up the land for settlement and their usually tragic relations with the indigenous inhabitants. Very interesting book which gives long-overdue recognition to a genuine Australian pioneer. ( )