[1][2] The book is one of the more famous retellings of the wreck and subsequent mutiny alongside works like Henrietta Drake-Brockman's Voyage to Disaster and Max Cramer's Tragedies and Triumphs of the Batavia Coast.
"[4] At the time, the book was well received, earning the Sir Thomas White Memorial Prize for the best work published by an Australian in 1966.
[7] A one-year option for adapting the book into a film was purchased by Russell Crowe's production company "Fear of God" in 2016.
[1][8] Author of the popular historical text Batavia, Peter FitzSimons also hinted at negotiating rights for his work at a separate event.
[8] The purchase of adaptation rights followed an attempt to do a film about the Batavia wreck in 2008, which failed after initial auditions because of lack of funding.