IN THE STEPS OF BURKE & WILLS

by Tom Bergin

Hardcover in dustjacket. Illustrated. 139 pp.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Mary Byrne]

Written in 1981, this is an account of 4 people with camels retracing Burkes trip from Coopers Creek to the Gulf of Carpentaria. They arrive exhausted and don’t make the return trip. The writing gives a good sense of the terrain through this part of outback Australia and how difficult it is to travelling across. There are a few mentions of Burkes trip throughout the text and a last chapter on Burkes return trip. It would have been more interesting to integrate this trek with writings from diaries and accounts of the Burke and Wills trip.

[Gary Newman]

Bergin can tell a story alright. Even though it is set up like diary entries, it flows well. Even when relating what Burke and Wills were going through at comparative points in the exposition it works well. Bergin also opens up the outback country to the reader with his first hand accounts and thoughts.