'...far better than any novel; an incomparable record of a great family and of a series of great actions'. ("The Bulletin"). When Patrick Durack left Western Ireland for Australia in 1853, he was to found a pioneering dynasty and build a cattle empire across the great stretches of Australia. With a profound sense of family history, his grand-daughter, Mary Durack reconstructed the Durack saga - a story of intrepid men and ground-breaking adventure. This sweeping tale of Australia and Australians remains a classic nearly fifty years on.

Dame Mary Durack DBE OBE was born to the heritage of a pioneering family. Long recognised as one of Australia's great literary figures, she wrote 15 books, short stories, poems, plays and film scripts. She died in 1994.