The Dragon’s Treasure and The Vanishing
By Mark Greenwood
Reviewed by Sandy Driessens
On a summer morning in 1931, four children on a remote beach in Western Australia, discovered ancient coins buried, like treasure in the sand. It ignited a treasure hunt that uncovered silver coins, hidden chests and a mysterious circle of stones. Was this treasure from the Dutch trading ship, The Gilt Dragon dashed on a reef in 1656? If it was, what happened to her crew … perhaps the unidentified skeleton was a clue?
In 1978, young pilot, Fred Valentich vanished during a routine flight over a notorious stretch of water known as the ‘Bass Strait Triangle’. His radio transmission to airport control, on that fateful night, was the last ever heard from him. What did Valentich encounter? To where did he disappear? Was his belief in UFO’s validated that night?
Mark Greenwood, History Hunter and award-winning Australian author, has written two stories to capture the imagination of budding History Hunters. The introductions to these paperbacks provoke excitement with the ideas of searching for treasure and the age-old question, “Are we alone in the Universe?”. Each ‘chapter’ is written like a short story, inspiring in the reader, ‘the thrill of the hunt for the truth’.
In The Dragon’s Treasure, each chapter describes the characters in this story, whether it be the treasure hunters from the 1930s on or the ship and her crew. Not written in chronological order, it spans hundreds of years but the timeline of recorded logs and discoveries is tabled at the back of the book, making it easier for young readers to decipher.
The Vanishing introduces the reader to Fred, relates recorded information, gives the aviation industry and government response and then follows with theories from skeptics and conspiracy theorists.
Greenwood incorporates teasers in the last chapters to stimulate interest in these unsolved mysteries. Why do some of the words in the local Nhanda people’s language have a similar meaning in Dutch? Why was no trace of Fred Valentich’s plane ever found?
Looking for books to inspire searching for clues to uncover history? These two books have ample narrative to make them engaging and facts to make them fascinating. They are worthy reading for potential historians.
Fremantle Press 2024
