Rob Mundle Book order

Australia's bestselling maritime historian on the story of the First Fleet. Rob Mundle, bestselling maritime biographer of Bligh, Flinders and Cook, is back on the ocean to tell one of the great stories of expedition under sail: the extraordinary eight-month, 17,000-nautical-mile voyage of the First Fleet. With customary sweep and swell, Mundle puts you alongside 48-year-old Captain Arthur Phillip on the quarterdeck of the Royal Navy escort HMS Sirius, as he commands his small armada of eleven ships, carrying over 1400 men, women and children, to the other side of the world. At the heart of Mundle's story of the First Fleet is the extraordinary seamanship of the masters and their crews in their day-to-day workings on individual ships, battling all that nature could throw at them - from disastrous conditions to disease - in order to fulfil the grand plans and strategic visions of politicians and authorities. To arrive in Sydney Cove in January 1788 with all ships intact and such a low loss of life is a tribute to Phillip, his officers and crews, and to the wherewithal and brilliance of eighteenth-century seamanship.

This bestselling maritime classic chronicles some of the most remarkable stories of survival and daring that the world's oceans have hosted over the past half century.

Matthew Flinders was the first to circumnavigate and chart the treacherous Terra Australis coastline - he is the man who put Australia on the map.

Australia's bestselling maritime historian on the story of the Captain Cook Captain James Cook is one of the greatest maritime explorers of all time. Written with colour, sweep and the authority of Robert Mundle's five decades as a competitive sailor, maritime journalist and broadcaster, this extensively researched new biography of Cook will put you on the quarterdeck with the great navigator as he painstakingly guides his ship through dangerous, reef-strewn waters. You will also be alongside the captain when his ship is a wave-width away from annihilation; and at the helm, when he calls for the anchor to be weighed and his men to heave hard on the lines, and at the start of an exciting new voyage.

The Eighteenth Century was an era when brave mariners took their ships beyond the horizon in search of an unknown world. Those chosen to lead these expeditions were exceptional navigators, men who had shown brilliance as they ascended the ranks in the Royal Navy. They were also bloody good sailors.