282 pages, indexed. The pages are lightly tanned, else the book is as new. "Combining the heroic, the tragic, the bizarre and the humorous, Australia's Pioneers, Heroes & Fools takes you along the intriguing highways and byways of Australian exploration, focusing on the tricks and tools of the explorer's trade and the trials and tribulations experienced on the journeys. Along with the famous explorers whose names are a part of Australian folklore, the intriguing stories of many of the other explorers who traversed the country are captured in this narrative. Indigenous Australians, female explorers, non-British pioneers and convicts all conducted significant explorations in this country, although their stories are not commonly featured in our history education. Impeccably researched and featuring many extracts from explorers' diaries and letters, Australia's Pioneers, Heroes & Fools is packed with ripping yarns and fascinating details, revealing the identities, experiences, motivations and in particular the modus operandi of Australia's colonial explorers" (back cover)