AustLit

'Young Duncan Ross thinks he’s on his way to Sydney to be a clerk. How wrong could he be? A chance meeting with an attractive woman on a coach and Duncan finds himself on the high seas heading for the Coral Sea and adventure.

'In the company of swashbucklers and desperadoes of every description Duncan braves storm, shipwreck, sharks, crocodiles, massacre and decapitation in this epic romance of survival amongst the head-hunters of the Torres Strait.

'The tale plays out along golden beaches and on tropical islands washed by the crystalline waters of the Coral Sea. It is a region of extraordinary beauty and danger as Duncan discovers whilst wending his cautious way betwixt piratical thugs on the one hand and ferocious natives on the other.

'More than a simple adventure Coral Sea Story brings alive those frantic days when the Queensland frontier was wild; when fortune-seekers and squatters, and drunken captains and pearl-divers, and South Sea Island sailors and Torres Strait warriors battled for control of the Coral Sea and its riches.

'This is Australian history as you’ve never seen it; big, bold and a ripping yarn.'

Source: Back cover.