The Investigators
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Narrated by:
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Jerome Pride
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By:
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Anthony Hill
About this listen
'Our discoveries have been great, but the risks and misfortunes many.'
John Franklin always wanted to be a sailor. As a volunteer in the Royal Navy at age fourteen, he found himself in the Battle of Copenhagan, but nothing could prepare him for the adventure of a lifetime, when he set off in 1801 with his cousin Matthew Flinders on HMS Investigator as it sought to chart the first circumnavigation of Australia.
Taking on responsibility for the chronometers, under the jealous eye of Flinders' younger brother, the young midshipman found all the action, adventure and excitement he'd hoped for in his new life at sea. It inspired him to become one of the great navigators and explorers of the 19th century.
However, he wasn't quite so prepared for the other challenges that life onboard had in store - the rivalries with fellow shipmates, the shortages of food, and the harsh realities of what they encountered in the colonies. Danger, disease and death seemed to follow in their wake, and even the Investigator was at serious risk of survival, and had to flee to Koepang in present-day Indonesia for repair.
The history books tell us that the first circumnavigation of Australia was completed on this voyage - but award-winning author Anthony Hill tells us how it was achieved. The Investigators is an unforgettable story of high adventure, exploration, shipwreck and survival as a young sailor comes of age.
©2023 Anthony Hill (P)2023 Penguin Random House Australia AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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- By Kyle P. Dalton on 04-06-18
By: Martin Dugard
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The Catalpa Rescue
- The Gripping Story of the Most Dramatic and Successful Prison Break in Australian History
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The incredible true story of one of the most extraordinary and inspirational prison breaks in history. Boston, 1869. Members of the Clan na Gael - agitators for an Irish republic - hatch a daring plan to free six Irish political prisoners from the most remote gaol on earth, Fremantle Prison in Western Australia. Under the guise of a whale hunt, Captain Anthony sets sail on the Catalpa, risking his life to rescue the men from the prison, known among the inmates as 'a living tomb'.
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Terrific yarn
- By Garrett on 05-13-19
By: Peter FitzSimons
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By the Mast Divided
- John Pearce, Book 1
- By: David Donachie
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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London: 1793. Young firebrand John Pearce, on the run from the authorities, is illegally press-ganged from the Pelican tavern into brutal life aboard HMS Brilliant, a frigate on her way to war. In the first few days, Pearce discovers the Navy is a world in which he can prosper. And he is not alone; he is drawn to a group of men who eventually form an exclusive gun crew, the Pelicans, with Pearce their elected leader.
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Didn't work for me
- By Michael E on 07-23-08
By: David Donachie
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Captain James Cook
- By: Rob Mundle
- Narrated by: Paul English
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Captain James Cook is one of the greatest maritime explorers of all time. Over three remarkable voyages of discovery into the Pacific in the latter part of the 18th century, Cook unravelled the oldest mystery surrounding the existence of Terra Australis Incognita - the Great South Land. He became the first explorer to circumnavigate New Zealand and establish that it was two main islands; discover the Hawaiian Islands for the British Empire; and left an enduring legacy.
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High school history text?
- By peter on 08-31-22
By: Rob Mundle
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Sons of the Waves
- The Common Seaman in the Heroic Age of Sail
- By: Stephen Taylor
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, "illiterate" seamen. Now, Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words. In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs.
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Navy Guy Recommends this Title
- By Lexcast on 06-17-20
By: Stephen Taylor
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Sea of Glory
- America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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America's first frontier was not the West; it was the sea, and no one writes more eloquently about that watery wilderness than Nathaniel Philbrick. In his best-selling In the Heart of the Sea, Philbrick probed the nightmarish dangers of the vast Pacific. Now, in an epic sea adventure, he writes about one of the most ambitious voyages of discovery the Western world has ever seen - the US Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842.
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A good solid voyage of discovery
- By Ken Sundermeyer on 06-18-05
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Fatal North
- Murder and Survival on the First North Pole Expedition
- By: Bruce Henderson
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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It began as President Ulysses S. Grant's bid for international glory after the Civil War - America's first attempt to reach the North Pole. It ended with Captain Charles Hall's death under suspicious circumstances, dissension among sailors, scientists, and explorers, and the ship's evacuation and eventual sinking. Then came a brutal struggle for survival by 33 men, women, and children stranded on the polar ice.
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An average reader says 10
- By Barbara on 11-10-16
By: Bruce Henderson
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Master and Commander
- Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 1
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the road of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.
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Choice of Narrators
- By Frank R. Adams on 04-23-10
By: Patrick O'Brian
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Jules Verne Collection
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in 80 Days and The Mysterious Island
- By: Jules Verne
- Narrated by: Jim D. Johnston
- Length: 43 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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From the pen of one of the literary world’s finest explorers of the imagination, these classic tales of fantastical habitats and intrepid adventurers delve deep into every mysterious corner of planet Earth. Whether you’ve adventured with Verne before or are only just setting off on your maiden voyage, this collection encompasses the most extraordinary adventures the father of science fiction has to offer.
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Classics, But Hours of Scientific Exposition.
- By Sarah on 05-02-21
By: Jules Verne
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The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe
- By: Peter Clines
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Robinson Crusoe is one of the most enduring adventures of the past four centuries and one of the most well-known works in the English language. Or is it? Recently discovered amidst the papers of the 20th-century writer and historian H. P. Lovecraft is what claims to be the true story of Robinson Crusoe. Taken from the castaway's own journals and memoirs, and fact-checked by Lovecraft himself, it is free from many of Defoe's edits and alterations. From Lovecraft's work a much smoother, simpler tale emerges - but also a far more disturbing one.
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95% verbatim Robinson Crusoe
- By La suede on 07-20-18
By: Peter Clines
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In the Wake of Madness
- The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon
- By: Joan Druett
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Commanded by Captain Howes Norris, the Sharon headed for the whaling grounds of the northwestern Pacific. At Pohnpei Island, 12 men from the Sharon deserted the ship, leaving her critically shorthanded. After steering for New Zealand to recruit more crew, the men on lookout raised a school of sperm whales. Two boats gave chase, each with a crew of six. Five men were left on board the Sharon: Norris, three pacific Islanders, and a Portuguese boy named Manuel.
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Love this author.
- By David H. on 07-15-17
By: Joan Druett
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Last Flag Down
- The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship
- By: John Baldwin, Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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As the Confederacy felt itself slipping beneath the Union juggernaut in late 1864, the South launched a desperate counteroffensive to force a standoff. Its secret weapon? A state-of-the-art raiding ship whose mission was to sink the U.S. merchant fleet. The raider's name was Shenandoah, and her executive officer was Conway Whittle, a 24-year-old warrior.
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Good all around
- By Rob on 01-19-08
By: John Baldwin, and others