Exploration or Espionage? Flinders and the FrenchBruceBennett,
2011single work criticism — Appears in:
Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia,vol.
2no.
12011;'The heroic status of Matthew Flinders as the maritime explorer who
circumnavigated the Great South Land and gave it the name Australia has deflected
attention from allegations against him of spying. During Flinders’s return voyage to
England in 1803, he was forced to land at Isle de France (Mauritius) where he was detained
for over six years as a spy. This article shows that the high-flown rhetoric of French and
British authorities about the objectivity and neutrality of scientific voyages sometimes
camouflaged more pressing demands for military intelligence and espionage.' Source: Brice Bennett.
Exploration or Espionage? Flinders and the FrenchBruceBennett,
2011single work criticism — Appears in:
Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia,vol.
2no.
12011;'The heroic status of Matthew Flinders as the maritime explorer who
circumnavigated the Great South Land and gave it the name Australia has deflected
attention from allegations against him of spying. During Flinders’s return voyage to
England in 1803, he was forced to land at Isle de France (Mauritius) where he was detained
for over six years as a spy. This article shows that the high-flown rhetoric of French and
British authorities about the objectivity and neutrality of scientific voyages sometimes
camouflaged more pressing demands for military intelligence and espionage.' Source: Brice Bennett.
