If school students or anyone else read only one book on the history of Australia's founding as a European settlement it should be this one. Nowhere else has there been set out in succinct detail the extent of the knavery that inspired colonial, political, economic and military aspirations among competing naval powers. While Cook may be the central personnage in this book, the respective roles of other explorers, military officers, politicians and administrators are no less pivotal and influential. Being printed on quality paper with colourful illustrations are added bonuses to this excellent read which adds credence to what, these days, could be termed pejoratively as "alternative facts".
Beacon Hill, Sydney.