The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins..., Peter FitzSimons
The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins..., Peter FitzSimons
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The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins
Australia's greatest explorer

Author: Peter FitzSimons

Narrator: Robert Meldrum

Unabridged: 21 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/27/2021


Synopsis

The extraordinary, must-read story of the brave, bold Hubert Wilkins - Australia's most adventurous explorer, naturalist, photographer, war hero, aviator, spy and daredevil - brought to life by Australia's greatest storyteller.

Sir Hubert Wilkins is one of the most remarkable Australians who ever lived.

The son of pioneer pastoralists in South Australia, Hubert studied engineering before moving on to photography, then sailing for England and a job producing films with the Gaumont Film Co. Brave and bold, he became a polar expeditioner, a brilliant war photographer, a spy in the Soviet Union, a pioneering aviator-navigator, a death-defying submariner - all while being an explorer and chronicler of the planet and its life forms that would do Vasco da Gama and Sir David Attenborough proud. As a WW1 photographer he was twice awarded the Military Cross for bravery under fire, the only Australian photographer in any war to be decorated. He went on expedition with Sir Ernest Shackleton, led a groundbreaking natural history study in Australia and was knighted in 1928 for his aviation exploits, but many more astounding achievements would follow. Wilkins' quest for knowledge and polar explorations were lifelong passions and his missions to polar regions aboard the submarine Nautilus the stuff of legend.

With masterful storytelling skill, Peter FitzSimons illuminates the life of Hubert Wilkins and his incredible achievements. Thrills and spills, derring-do, new worlds discovered - this is the most unforgettable tale of the most extraordinary life lived by any Australian.

'Peter FitzSimons has done his level best to return George Hubert Wilkins to the pantheon of the greatest Australians. He has told a story for the nation.' - Michael McKernan, The Canberra Times

About Peter FitzSimons

Peter FitzSimons AM is Australia's bestselling non-fiction writer, and for the past 35 years has also been a journalist and columnist with the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD and the SUN-HERALD.He is the author of a number of highly successful books, including BREAKER MORANT, BURKE AND WILLS, MONASH'S MASTERPIECE, KOKODA, NED KELLY and GALLIPOLI, as well as biographies of such notable Australians as Sir Douglas Mawson, Nancy Wake and Nick Farr-Jones. His passion is to tell Australian stories, our own stories: of great men and women, of stirring events in our history. Peter grew up on a farm north of Sydney, went to boarding school in Sydney and attended Sydney University. An ex-Wallaby, he also lived for several years in rural France and Italy, playing rugby for regional clubs. He and his wife Lisa Wilkinson AM - journalist, magazine editor and television presenter - have three children; they live in Sydney.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Gary on November 17, 2021

History as collated by a committee of specialists and written in the style of a ‘boy’s own adventure’. It’s a rich adventure narrative and how much is this a biographical history? The telling of history and in this case the historical biography of the most incredible and unknown Australian adventure......more

Goodreads review by Nic on March 22, 2022

Another Peter FitzSimon's classic in his series of biographies on famous Australians. Now, being a aviator and a photographer myself, I must admit embarrassment that I knew very little about the subject of this book - Hubert Wilkins. What a man! An incredible Australian who lived through interesting......more

Goodreads review by Cathy on October 10, 2024

Although Peter FitzSimons's writing style annoys me, I did enjoy the historical detail and many fascinating and interesting stories about Wilkins' life, the people he encountered and the historical context. I am grateful we can now learn about this exceptional person who achieved astounding feats in......more

Goodreads review by Angus on June 25, 2022

"A great Australian who made his mark in Half-a-dozen fields, saw it all" (the deep north and south, fields of war, Australia's tropical wilds), "did it all" (getting there by land air and under the sea), "met them all" (Lenin, King George, Henry Ford, etc.) "chronicled the never-before seen, pushed......more

Goodreads review by Sally on January 27, 2023

*** Very mild spoilers *** All I can say is - WOW! Actually, no, I can say a lot more than that. This book is amazing! Primarily because of the true story it tells of the incredible Sir Hubert Wilkins, an Australian hero and legend whom hardly anyone has heard of! (Although I do have to give huge prop......more