The Life Of Hubert Wilkins

Hubert Wilkins, was a outstanding man of his time, indeed he would be an outstanding man of any age. His incredible achievements shone through in the age of the last true explorers like a multi faceted diamond.

All of these mantles he bore with the ease of a comic book hero, Photographer, War Hero, Pilot, Reporter, Scientist, Naturalist, and prolific Writer. But his story is no fanciful fiction.

The book reads like a boy’s fictional adventure story.

Wounded nine times in the First World War, he was awarded the Military Cross twice for conspicuous acts of bravery. He carried not a gun, but a camera, the Commander of the Australian Corp was quoted as saying that he was the bravest man in his army and few could argue with that statement.

One would have forgiven him for slowing down somewhat, but instead, his life went from adventure to adventure, achievement to mind boggling achievement, registering firsts in Antarctic flight and Submarine navigation under Polar ice.

Chronicling this man’s journey through life is no mean feat, but Simon Nasht guides us through the highs and lows, failure and successes of this Australian with consummate ease and one suspects no little admiration on his part.

The subject matter of the book is so varied that the reader is never drawn into familiarity and is off on an adventure seemingly at a turn of the page.

By the end of the book, the reader must surely pose themselves the question, why some people are happiest pushing out the envelope of human achievement almost at will, while the majority of us less so?

As the author points out, it is perhaps puzzling to understand the fact that Sir Hubert Wilkins is so little known even in the country of his birth. I think this book goes some way to addressing that.

‘No More Beyond’ is a fine read regarding a fine man, I would highly recommend this book to people who admire the spirit of adventure.