Forget Abbott, Rudd and Gillard...
We've got a real political coup for you, with soldiers, guns and bayonets! And it all happened on Australia Day, 1808.
That's right, Australia's first coup occurred on 26 January, 1808 when the army marched into Government House and arrested the governor of NSW, William Bligh – the same William Bligh who was commander of the ill-fated Bounty.
So what was it about Bligh that made him the target of that infamous Rum Rebellion in 1808 and the Mutiny on the Bounty back in 1789? Was he the sadistic bully-boy of Hollywood myth or was he a much more interesting character? And what about such other dramatis personae as Fletcher Christian and John Macarthur: what turned them into mutineers? Why were they so revolting?
William Bligh: a stormy story of tempestuous times, the third in a series of books from Berbay Publishing on the British settlement of Australia, peels back the layers of some of the most incredible circumstances in Australia’s colonial history, and invites young readers to examine what lies below the surface. Beautifully written by Michael Sedunary and complemented by the stunning artwork of Australia’s most prominent ceramic artist, Bern Emmerichs, this is an exceptional book.
'Our aim in these stories from Australia's past is to present a living history in a voice that young readers will find engaging and inclusive. Real living history not only involves vivid scenes and colourful characters but also deals with issues and themes that people can identify as relevant to their own lives.' Michael Sedunary
(Alexandra Yatomi-Clarke, Berbay Publishing, 2016)
