Readers are drawn into the greatest Australian legend outside of wartime, the Eureka Blockade Australia's answer to the Boston Tea Party and to the French people's storming of the Bastille was the Eureka Blockade. It was the moment when the diggers sense of outraged justice united them into a force that changed the course of Australian history. It is the greatest Australian legend outside of wartime, and one that has enormous resonance in the 21st Century as Australians continue to discuss what their formal relationship with Britain should be. Karl Marx followed it closely and wrote about it extensively, while Mark Twain described it as "the finest thing in Australasian history. It was a revolution—small in size; but great politically; it was a strike for liberty, a struggle for principle, a stand against injustice and oppression." Peter FitzSimons brings the whole story to life in his trademark fashion, making the reader feel like they're there as the mighty Eureka flag is first raised and rebels swear allegiance to it; as the British redcoats first launch their attack, and as the digger-rebels fight back in kind.
Author description
Peter FitzSimons is a journalist with THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD and SUN-HERALD. He is also a regular TV commentator, a former radio presenter (very successfully, with Mike Carlton on Radio 2UE) and is also a former national representative rugby union player. Peter is the author of over 20 books - including TOBRUK, KOKODA, BATAVIA and biographies of Nancy Wakee Kim Beazleye Nick Farr-Jonese Les Darcy, Steve Waugh and John Eales, and is Australia's biggest-selling non-fiction author of the last ten years. Earlier this year, Peter was named a Member of the Order of Australia for service to literature as a biographer, sports journalist and commentator, and to the community through contributions to conservation, disability care, social welfare and sporting organisations. He lives with his wife, Lisa Wilkinson, and their three children in Sydney.
