The True Story of the Military Coup that Turned Australia into a Two-Year Rebel Republic
‘Riveting’ – The Australian
‘A compelling, carefully researched narrative about a genuinely interesting episode in Australia’s early history… His ability to write fiction imbues the story with a drama and sense of adventure that rarely features in Australian history’ – Sydney Morning Herald
‘This is a brilliant book. Like me, you won’t be able to put it down’ – Tom Keneally, Booker Prize winning author
‘Stephen has written a great book’ – Malcolm Turnbull, MP, former Federal Opposition Leader
‘Not just good. This is a brilliant account’ – Chester Porter QC
‘Perceptive and compelling… It is a fine book’ – Paul Brunton, Senior Curator, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
‘A very significant contribution to our understanding of January, 1808’ – Brad Manera, Head Curator, Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Sydney
‘A “must read”’ – The Examiner, Launceston
‘A rollicking account’ – The Bulletin
‘Insightful and entertaining’ – Daily Telegraph, Sydney
‘Dando-Collins brings the tale vividly to life’ – Courier Mail, Brisbane
‘Captain Bligh’s Other Mutiny is a wonderful recreation of the events of the 26th of January, 1808’ – Police News, New South Wales
‘Justly acclaimed.’ Professor Ross Fitzgerald, Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald
Bligh versus Macarthur. Government versus greed. Obstinacy versus lunacy
Captain Bligh’s Other Mutiny
Prompted by a almost forgotten transcript of a London court martial, Stephen Dando-Collins has given Australian history the definitive account of what really took place in January, 1808, when John Macarthur inspired the New South Wales Corps to overthrow William Bligh, Governor of the colony of New South Wales and the man who, many years before, had commanded the ill-fated Bounty as a 34-year-old lieutenant.
Macarthur’s coup led to a two-year reign of terror in New South Wales, as he and his New South Wales Corps cronies plundered the colony while ruling it as their own little republic.
Bligh, in the meantime, spent a year as a prisoner of the rebels, before escaping to sit off the entrance to Tasmania’s River Derwent for close to a year, acting like a pirate. All the while, he plotted his revenge.
Just as Bligh was not the perfect governor, so John Macarthur was not the clever manipulator of men, women, or events that he believed himself to be. The pair’s final duel, in a London courtroom, makes for gripping, astonishing reading, as does the entire incredible yet true story told in Captain Bligh’s Other Mutiny.
Random House Australia. Paperback. ISBN 978-1-74166-798-1