Batavia

I couldn't put it down. May have been a bit gruesome at times, but that didn't slow me down. Both the story and narration were the best. It was hard to believe that it was true.

It was unbelievable! However it was true! This story just proves that fact is stranger than fiction.

The Dutch soldier who rescued many of the passengers and crew from the depravity of Jeronemus and the mutineers.

The description of the executions of the mutineers including the summing up in the epilogue. Justice was crude and rough in the 17th century!

I was amazed by the events that took place.

After being recommended this book by my father-in-law, I was intrigued to hear this stunning tale of disaster. Peter Fitzsimons has crafted a terrific retelling of the ill-fated voyage of the Dutch East India Company's flagship vessel. Eloquently narrated by Aspel, the story seems so fantastic that one cannot deny that truth IS stranger than fiction.

From the telling of the VOC's founding, to the Batavia's journey and subsequent shipwrecking on the Abrolhos Islands, to the murderous tyrannical short-lived island regime of Jeronimus Cornelisz, this tale is both amazing and horrifying.

Every Australian should read of this disaster that took place off the coast of Western Australia. It paints a chilling portrait of just how far power can corrupt those who have naught to fear from the outside world. Murderous executions, sexual slavery, survival and heroism: these are all present in this adventure that many have forgotten or are not even aware of.

Although told in present tense and actual dialogue spoken could be contested, Fitzsimons states this at the beginning of the book. It makes for a vivid story that places the reader there at every chilling moment.

This story once underway is amazing, edge of your seat, can't stop listening stuff. What makes it so riveting is that it is a true story that could be a horror movie in the Hostel series but set in the 1600's.

Peter FitzSimons has filled the gaps in the historical accounts of the Batavia shipwreck in a way that is seamless to the reader / listener and that shows respect to the people who suffered in this tragedy. As he says in the forward he completed a 1000 piece jigsaw with only 500 pieces available to him and made the picture look real.

I am a lover of fiction usually. My dad encouraged me to read this and fortunatly it was in the Audible book store. I am very glad I listened to dad (and the book) on this occasion. It is a part of Australian history that I was ignorant to, even though I have seen the replica of the ship. Presented the way it has been in this story, the history and the horror has been brought to life in a way that is interesting and dare I say, given the nature of the tale, enjoyable. Though if you read this, joy is not an emotion that you will feel, rather horror to read what desperate men can stoop to in the absence of law.

The build up and character backgrounds make it start a little slow, but you do need this, so hang in there and discover the history of the Dutch East India company, the spice trade and the Batavia.

Yes, One of the best stories I've ever heard.

It's a true story that just keeps getting better through the listen. If you read, be sure to view the location on Google Earth. You can still see where the ship hit 400 years later.

Great reader. Ability to pronounce Dutch terms and names added greatly to the listen.

The treatment of the women.

I highly recommend. If you like true adventure, this book has it all. I've read most, and this is the best.

The history, the visionary its a well written and describe story

Still working through this, and I am hooked

Not laugh or cry but the history, a history which even Mr. Fitzsimmons admits is a story very little known in Australia, but should be.

I will certainly be listening to other Peter Fitzsimmons books if they are all as well researched and read as this one. What history, what a great listen. You can almost hear the history develop