The cast of characters includes the expeditionleader a reckless, charming Irish policeman known for getting lost on his way home from the pub an eccentric nature enthusiast from Germany an alcoholic camel handler and a rogue American horse-breaker who is just in it for the money. Drawing its title from one of the few remaining traces of the expedition, The Dig Tree combines the danger of Sebastian Junger with the irony of Bill Bryson to relive the tragic journey of these completely initiated adventurers. Months later, only one man returned alive-with tales of heroism, hardships, and lost opportunities that were by turns terrifying and darkly comic. Their mission: to chart a course across the vast unmapped interior of Australia, from Melbourne to the northern coast. They departed Melbourne's Royal Park in the summer of 1860, a misfit party of eighteen amateur explorers cheered on by thousands of well-wishers.

The harrowing true story of the Burke and Willis expedition team who took on the Australian wilds 150 years ago-and lost.

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