This is a personal account of Conrad's return to his Tasmanian homeland after 20 years. He tells of his upbringing there and describes the island's rivers, mountains and rain forests. During his stay he visits a Greek temple in the bush, travels through logging camps, tries to decipher a cliff of ancient rock carvings and is defeated in a debate with a team of murderers at the State's maximum security prison. Conrad's books include "The Victorian Treasure House", "Imagining America", "The Art of the City", "The Everyman History of Literature" and "A Song of Love and Death - The Meaning of Opera". He also writes reviews regularly for "The Observer", the "TLS" and "Harpers and Queen".