The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins

Australia's Greatest Explorer

De: Peter FitzSimons

Narrado por: Robert Meldrum

The extraordinary, must-read story of the brave, bold Hubert Wilkins - Australia's most adventurous explorer, naturalist, photographer, war hero, aviator, spy and daredevil - brought to life by Australia's greatest storyteller.

Sir Hubert Wilkins is one of the most remarkable Australians who ever lived.

The son of pioneer pastoralists in South Australia, Hubert studied engineering before moving on to photography, then sailing for England and a job producing films with the Gaumont Film Co. Brave and bold, he became a polar expeditioner, a brilliant war photographer, a spy in the Soviet Union, a pioneering aviator-navigator, a death-defying submariner - all while being an explorer and chronicler of the planet and its life forms that would do Vasco da Gama and Sir David Attenborough proud. As a WW1 photographer he was twice awarded the Military Cross for bravery under fire, the only Australian photographer in any war to be decorated. He went on expedition with Sir Ernest Shackleton, led a groundbreaking natural history study in Australia and was knighted in 1928 for his aviation exploits, but many more astounding achievements would follow. Wilkins' quest for knowledge and polar explorations were lifelong passions and his missions to polar regions aboard the submarine Nautilus the stuff of legend.

With masterful storytelling skill, Peter FitzSimons illuminates the life of Hubert Wilkins and his incredible achievements. Thrills and spills, derring-do, new worlds discovered - this is the most unforgettable tale of the most extraordinary life lived by any Australian.

©2021 Peter FitzSimons (P)2021 Hachette Australia Pty Ltd

Reseñas de la Crítica

'Peter FitzSimons has done his level best to return George Hubert Wilkins to the pantheon of the greatest Australians. He has told a story for the nation.' - Michael McKernan, The Canberra Times

What amazing life

Everyone should listen to this and feel pure inspiration from a truly amazing human! Greatly written and nice representation of the time.

Truly Incredible!

Hubert Wilkins should have holidays named after him in a dozen or more countries. It's a crime that his name is so obscure, while monstrous, evil men like Christopher Columbus are so well known, and even revered by the ignorant/hateful among us.

RIP, Captain Wilkins.

Incredible individual whom I hadn’t heard of.

A great story of an incredible individual, that amongst other feats like early photo-journalism and polar exploration, the aviation world should take note of.

Truly remarkable story, best yet 👏

Thank you, I'm so grateful to have heard such an amazing life story of Sir Hubert Wilkins, and to think it was all real .Remarkable." I can not believe GHW is not a household name in Australia & abroad. I have no idea & am about to listen to this story again so as not to miss anything. Thank you again, RIV 💖

His accomplishments

It was the most incredible story of a man that I never heard of. One for the ages.

Incredible story

The style of the book was well done and told a marvelous tale of a remarkable man! Incredible that Sir Hubert Wilkins is not better known, he should be as he is heroic. Great book!

I wish I could have liked it more

One tall tale after another, breathlessly told without critical analysis or evaluation. Too long to be a kid's book and lacks the depth and analysis to sustain an adult reader. After 7 chapters I just put it down.

Why didn’t I know about this man?

A riveting story of an amazing life. Well told. Beautifully narrated. The adventures and accomplishments of this quiet giant are unequaled in a time when exploration was the norm. Wow, what a life!

Written for a juvenile audience

The book sounds like it was both written for and read to a pre-teen audience. The author injects inappropriate humor into serious situations at times and in general it doesn’t seem like a very serious work by the author. I don’t feel I’ve gained any in-depth understanding of Wilkins or insight into him personally. As many comment, it’s mainly just a series of stories. Google AI had some interesting and accurate comments regarding some people’s views on the book’s superficiality, juvenile tone and lack of depth. I wish I’d come across those before I purchased it. The author has several books that sound like interesting adventure stories I had put on my wish list, but I’m sure this will be the first and only book by him I read. Some people obviously like his style of writing, but it’s not for me. I was disappointed after all the hype.