Australians know Arthur Phillip as the first Governor of the colony of New South Wales. But few know the real story of this mercurial man. Arthur Phillip was a career soldier, a mercenary and a spy for the British Empire long before he captained the First Fleet and founded Sydney. Through meticulous research, Michael Pembroke has discovered the amazing story behind Australia's first Governor, Arthur Phillip. The story of Phillip's life takes us through wars with Spain and France, battles, court martials, and the taking of Havana from the Spanish. In his 20s he married a wealthy widow (with a pre-nup agreement) and briefly became a gentleman farmer. The marriage ended in divorce, before such a thing existed in England, but Phillip then became a successful merchant in France and likely spy for England. In 1774 he became a paid mercenary for the Portuguese navy at the behest of the Admiralty u his enemy again was Spain but now in South America. Upon his return to London some years later, the revolution in the American colonies triggered another war with France and then Spain as well.
