This book is a classic narrative of modern exploration; a story of adventure, enterprise and patient scientific exploration, illustrated by photographs taken on the expedition. The Simpson is a sand-ridge desert extending 200 miles (322 km) west to east, the ridges running parallel from north to south at roughly quarter-mile (0.4 km) intervals, some reaching as high as 100 feet (30 m). Madigan planned a ground crossing in the winter of 1939. A party of nine, including a biologist, a botanist, a photographer and a radio operator, with nineteen camels, made the exhausting crossing from Andado station in the Northern Territory to Birdsville in twenty-five days. It verified Madigan's previous conclusions that the area was a wasteland. This last classic Australian exploration adventure pioneered the use of mobile radio communication; national broadcasts were made through the Australian Broadcasting Commission from desert camps. The scientific results were published and also a popular accound, Crossing the Dead Heart (Melbourne, 1946). He saw the 'Dead Heart' as a land of everlasting sand-ridges and salt-encrusted clay-pans; while his conclusions seemed correct then, within twenty years the area was criss-crossed by petroleum explorers. - Australian Dictionary of Biography

A true story of one of the epic adventures of desert exploration. In 1939 Dr. Cecil Madigan led his party of nine men and nineteen camels into the trackless and waterless Simpson Desert on an exciting mission never before attempted. This is a great Australian story of enterprise, scientific investigation, determination and human courage.

The body of a man with a crushed skull is found in outback Australia. Discovered hidden nearby is a letter containing cryptic clues to the location of a massive gold find in the unchartered Dead Heart of Australia. Greedy rumours fly, when a wife arrives to collect her dead husbands belongings. Not only is the not-entirely-bereaved widow out for a take, but also local authorities find themselves overrun by those willing to kill for a chance to find the gold. Speaking of killing, who bashed in the victims skull? Obese Sergeant Gillings is on the case with the help of his officers and trackers. The roguish Bob and his lover, Chaenee, are on the hunt as well. Australian Aborigines in the Dead Heart are on a rampage because strangers enter their forbidden territory. These gold-hungry adventurers have to fight each other, wild natives, and the unforgiving terrain itself on the perilous path to striking it rich.