Eureka

Readers are drawn into the greatest Australian legend outside of wartime, the Eureka Blockade

Australia's answer to the Boston Tea Party and to the French people's storming of the Bastille was the Eureka Blockade. It was the moment when the diggers sense of outraged justice united them into a force that changed the course of Australian history. It is the greatest Australian legend outside of wartime, and one that has enormous resonance in the 21st Century as Australians continue to discuss what their formal relationship with Britain should be. Karl Marx followed it closely and wrote about it extensively, while Mark Twain described it as "the finest thing in Australasian history. It was a revolution--small in size; but great politically; it was a strike for liberty, a struggle for principle, a stand against injustice and oppression." Peter FitzSimons brings the whole story to life in his trademark fashion, making the reader feel like they're there as the mighty Eureka flag is first raised and rebels swear allegiance to it; as the British redcoats first launch their attack, and as the digger-rebels fight back in kind.