The Australian Exploration Anthology features the first-hand personal accounts of the explorers: Captain William Dampier, Captain James Cook, Matthew Flinders, John McDouall Stuart, John McKinlay and William Wills.

This book charts the history of the exploration of the vast continent of Australia by the European newcomers who arrived at the last great habitable continent to be discovered. This comprehensive anthology begins with the initial seaborne forays of the sometime pirate Captain William Dampier, as well as the celebrated voyages of Captain Cook, and the lesser known explorer Matthew Flinders.

The later texts cover the explorations inland, undertaken by Flinders, McDouall Stuart, McKinlay and Wills, all during the mid 19th Century. Each of these explorers encountered terrible hardship, thirst and privation as they struggled with the immense distances and the inhospitable climate and wildlife of this harsh and wild land.

These texts are a 'must-read' for anyone interested in exploration, or in the history of how the modern state of Australia was established.

The 7 separate texts in this anthology are:

- A Voyage To New Holland Etc. In The Year 1699. By Captain William Dampier

- A Continuation Of A Voyage To New Holland, Etc. In The Year 1699. By Captain William Dampier

- Captain Cook's Journal During His First Voyage Round The World Made In H.M. Bark "ENDEAVOUR" 1768-71, By Captain James Cook

- A Voyage To Terra Australis Undertaken For The Purpose Of Completing The Discovery Of That Vast Country, And Prosecuted In The Years 1801, 1802 And 1803, By Matthew Flinders

- Explorations In Australia: The Journals Of John McDouall Stuart During The Years 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, And 1862, When He Fixed The Centre Of The Continent And Successfully Crossed It From Sea To Sea. By John McDouall Stuart

- McKinlay's Journal Of Exploration In The Interior Of Australia. (BURKE Relief Expedition.) By John McKinlay

- Successful Exploration Through The Interior Of Australia, From Melbourne To The Gulf Of Carpentaria. By William Wills