Physical description

288 p. : 3 maps ; 22 cm.

Summary

Blurb: On Boxing Day 1803 a young English convict named William Buckley escaped from Victoria's abortive first settlement, at Sorrento.For the next thirty-two years Buckley survived in the wild, mainly because he was adopted and helped by the local tribes.In 1835 Buckley rejoined the civilization he had cast aside, emerging to meet Melbourne's founders. He became an important guide and interpreter in the crucial first years of the European conquest of the Port Phillip region.Then, as the Aborigines were engulfed by the flood of white men, Buckley found himself in no-man's land, mistrusted by his former black friends and by the white society who so misunderstood them. He was reviled, so harshly that his reputation has suffered to this day.This is William Buckley's story. It is a story based on fact, about a real Robinson Crusoe who was unique in Australia's history.And it is also a story of European intruders imposing their savage will on an alien, ancient continent. Rarely has Australian history come more alive than in the pages of this remarkable first novel.

Buckley's life with the Aboriginal people of Port Phillip between 1803 and 1835; subsequent life in white community ; includes glossary of Aboriginal words (p. 271-280).