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'Virtual Voyages' is a fascinating account of the European discovery of the elusive 'great south land' told through the literature of 'imaginary voyages'. Written at the height of the era of European maritime exploration, these bizarre and captivating tales, with their wildly imaginative visions of antipodean inversion and strangeness, reveal a hidden history of attitudes to colonization. By exposing the relationship between myth and reality in the antipodes, this book casts new light on the power of fiction to influence history.
Paul Longley Arthur studied at The University of Western Australia and was a research fellow at Murdoch University and Curtin University before taking up a position in the History program at The Australian National University. He has held visiting fellowships at research centres in Europe, North America and Australia, and has published widely on the history of technology, media, travel and empire. See www.paularthur.com.
List of Illustrations; Acknowledgements; Editorial Note; Introduction; Chapter 1 - Real and Imaginary Voices; Chapter 2 - Blank Spaces for the Imagination; Chapter 3 - Exoticism and Romanticism; Chapter 4 - Finding Paradise and Utopia in the Specific; Chapter 5 - Australia's Mythic Inland; Conclusion; Index