Charles Todd's Magnificent Obsession

It was the greatest feat of engineering in nineteenth-century Australia, but it very nearly collapsed in the face of monumental obstacles.

The year was 1870, and mail took six weeks to get to England by sea. Australians hungered for the speedy communication a telegraph connection would bring. Engineer Charles Todd promised that he could string up wires on poles from Adelaide over 3,000 kilometres to an undersea cable in Darwin harbour in just eighteen months. It was a wild gamble that became an epic race against time.

This is the extraordinary story of the building of the Overland Telegraph. Three teams of workers crossed deserts, mountains, and rivers in flood, following the rough maps that John McDouall Stuart had brought back from his final expedition. They encountered Aboriginal people who had never seen a European, and battled crocodiles, mosquitoes, mysterious illnesses and starvation. Drawing on original letters and journals, historian David Dufty has uncovered never-before-published details about this groundbreaking project.

This is a tale of obsession and heroism, violence and tragedy, and above all, it's a totally compelling yarn.

'An engrossing and dramatic saga' - Pat Sheil

'A gripping story' - David Hill

'A tale of endeavor and perseverance' - Roland Perry

'Meticulous research and Dufty's monster writing skills shape a cracking retelling of Charles Todd's race to stretch a single strand of telegraph wire across 3000km of remote Australia from Port Augusta to Darwin' - Glenn Morrison

'A good read, and speaks of the man and his team, illustrating the talents of a rare achiever' - Mac Benoy

'The story of how it was finally done, overcoming the perils of deluge and desert, endless political infighting and contractual chicanery, is told with flair and contagious enthusiasm' - Sydney Morning Herald

'David Dufty's lively and well-researched book tells the story of the singing wires and poles and the man who built them, an English grocer's son named Charles Todd.' - The Australian


'The story of Todd and the Overland Telegraph Line is brilliantly retold in Charles Todd's Magnificent Obsession...The great joy of Dufty's book is not only its remarkably authentic sense of place, but its attention to detail so necessary to retelling this oft told story with authority, and the sense of forward motion such a "race" deserves.' - The Centralian Today

David Dufty is an historian and researcher. He is the author of Nabbing Ned Kelly; The Secret Code Breakers of Central Bureau, winner of the 2017 Nib Military History Prize; and of Radio Girl, winner of the Best Non-fiction, 2020 ACT Notable Awards.

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