The Orpheus Disaster

Western Publishing Company, Waiuku, NZ, 1987. Spine faded and creased.

The wreck of the Orpheus (1860) was a dramatic chapter in the early maritime annals of a small nation whose history is inextricably linked with the comings and goings of ships in her waters. Hundreds of thousands of words were written about that event at the time, in reports, inquests, courts martial, accusation, denial, and for decades later in enquiry and speculation. Fairburn's book is the first attempt to bring all those varied views into one focus and perspective.