The Other Side of the Mountain: How a Tycoon, a Pastoralist and a Convict Helped Shape the Exploration of Colonial Australia

by Ian W. Shaw

In the early 1800s the Great Australian Unknown would be slowly revealed, in part by formal government expeditions, but also by runaway convicts, little known and privately funded explorers, and pastoralists seeking both knowledge of what lay beyond and land to occupy. Through extensive research, and with engaging storytelling, The Other Side of the Mountain brings three of these men’s stories together into a single enthralling Ralph Entwistle, runaway convict and bushranger who led a brief and briefly successful rebellion against the brutality of the convict system on the fringes of New South Wales’ western plains; John Horrocks, an English textiles magnate who brought most of his village from the north of England to Adelaide and beyond, and who was the first to explore Australia’s parched interior by camel - a decision that cost him his life; and Horace Wills, a printer, rebel, overlander, pastoralist and politician who gave up everything to push the frontier back in the far north of the continent.While our history books recount the momentous advances made when Europeans spread across the continent, the stories of Ralph Entwistle, John Horrocks and Horace Wills are a reminder that those advances were almost always built on smaller endeavours, often made by people whose names we rarely hear today but whose impacts were often of the greatest significance.

223 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2020

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been so much better. It needed more pages (surprised it was only 250 pages when it came in the mail) and a lot more detail. Read like a highlight reel. I thought this author's non-fiction Glenrowan was a masterpiece and bought this book on the strength of that impression. While I did like the book, I didn't love it. I think if he added a couple more characters from history, it could have made it a more substantial read. Three characters from history covered in so short a non-fiction book, left no impact.