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brendanlambourne's review
5.0
A fascinating read about an event in Australia’s history that has always fascinated me. The imagery portrayed takes me back to the gold fields of a time long forgotten.
Definitely worth a read.
Definitely worth a read.
kimg's review
1.0
I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I just didn’t! The subject matter is fascinating & part of Australia’s fabric. Ii was obviously really well researched, but I find the authors writing style to be pompous & wordy & I found this read like a boring thesis! The Eureka story deserves better than this. I really struggled to get through this book & wont be in a hurry to pick up another book by this author.
avsfan08's review
5.0
I really enjoyed this. I haven't read any of Peter FitzSimons' previous books, but I enjoyed his writing style. It reads more like a novel than an academic text as was his aim. The advantage to this is it makes the book very readable and therefore engages the reader in the unfolding events. A couple of times I was cheering or booing along with the crowd! I certainly gained a much deeper understanding of the the events leading up the rebellion and what was gained in the aftermath. It's been too long since I've visited Ballarat, so guess where I'll be spending the next few days!
bristoni74's review
3.0
This is the second book I’ve read by Peter Fitzsimons, the first being Batavia. He writing is very accessible, particularly for a subject that is usually considered boring – history! I did like the fact that he spent a large section of the book (practically the first half)describing how the gold rush came about and the context of the times, rather than jumping straight into the Eureka stockade.
It is an exciting story for sure, with all the elements that Australian’s tend to love – the miner under dogs and then those barbaric police and government bullies. What did bring the story down for me was the level of detail at times. Also the final chapter where Peter provides his own personal views about how Eureka is still unfinished as we are still a republic, I thought that was a bit of a stretch! But it is a great story about mate ship and the spirit of democracy.
It is an exciting story for sure, with all the elements that Australian’s tend to love – the miner under dogs and then those barbaric police and government bullies. What did bring the story down for me was the level of detail at times. Also the final chapter where Peter provides his own personal views about how Eureka is still unfinished as we are still a republic, I thought that was a bit of a stretch! But it is a great story about mate ship and the spirit of democracy.
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