The Dig Tree

A gripping retelling of the ill-fated journey of Burke and Wills.

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 but ambitious 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, in central Australia, bore a strange carving: 'Dig Under 3ft NW.' Burke, Wills and five other men were dead. The expedition had become an astonishing tragedy-and its leaders were quickly lionised.

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. The Dig Tree is a gripping account of one of Australia's most notorious events.

'A masterpiece of exploration history-entertaining, trenchant, a marvel.'