Too many spears

Excellent, but not in the authors normal style... I have read a lot of Peter Pinney's books, and with one exception (where he experimented with a novel style book in Ride the Volcano) they are his own stories - be it travel or war. This is much more a narrative history - the story of Frank Jardine and his life at Somerset, Cape York, far North Queensland. I would put this book more in the style of of the historian writers such as Ion Idriess, who wrote many books about the Coral Sea and the zone of islands between the top of Australia and Papua New Guinea / West Papua. This is likely the influence of his co-author Estelle Runcie.

Firstly I must say that with this type of writing - narrative non fiction, where the authors contribute fine detail to conversation, motives and actions - I generally find a level of unease as to whether we receive a realistic view of history. Despite still going to the conversational and motives level, in this book it all feels legitimate and appears to align with the small amount of background I read on Frank Jardine.

At the back of the book, there are several pages of footnotes, as well as a Sequence of Events timeline and bibliography which lists the sources, so there is little doubt that the authors spent time on the research here.

And to the story - an Australian pioneering legend, Frank Jardine, credited with much of the early exploration and managing the settlement of Somerset, where his father earlier established a cattle station. Employed by the government as Magistrate and Government Resident, he is charged with maintaining the settlement against the unruly natives, escaped convicts and the pearlers & beche-de-mer gatherers. There are a cast of interesting characters, murders and attacks by the natives, the courting (or otherwise) of his Samoan bride, visits by passing ships and Government officials and by those who seek to undermine his position. It is fast paced and richly written, and it is easy to get caught up in their lives in the period 1867-1873.

Overall an interesting part of Australian history, written by one of my favorite authors, sitting between four and five stars. Rounded up.