Popular Australian historian Peter Fitzsimons describes the subject matter of his new book Batavia as the most captivating he’s ever been involved with. The Batavia was a Dutch ship laden with gold and silver, shipwrecked in 1628 off the coast of Western Australia. Planning a mutiny, a group of the ship’s crew subsequently conducted a reign of terror on some of the survivors, murdering at least 110 men, women and children in the process.
To promote the launch of the book, the book’s publishers, Random House Australia, are holding a writing competition worth $1000. Entries close at the end of March. Peter will be a guest of the Wheeler Centre in conversation with ABC Gippsland broadcaster Gerard Callinan in Sale on 28 April.