Product Description

In late-18th-century Britain, people were hanged for petty offences, yet crime was rife. The gaols were bursting and over-flow prisoners were kept in notorious 'hulks': rotting old ships moored offshore. Out of this situation was born the 'solution' - 'The Sydney Experiment': criminals perceived to 'damage' British society would be transported to Australia. Thus, Sydney was founded as 'an open-air prison' with 'walls 14,000 miles thick'. There were orgies, diseases, court marshalls, hangings, escapes and hunger...Tom Keneally tells the fascinating story of how Governor Arthur Phillip, despotic ruler of New South Wales, imposed order between the convicts, sailors and native aboriginal tribespeople...and how the 'open-air prison' eventually developed into one of the most vibrant cities in the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29353 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Waterstone's Books Quarterly
'an unusually balanced and rich account'

The Irish Times
'Delivers an insightful historical account'

The Sunday Times Culture
'wonderfully readable history of white Australia's early
years...moving narrative."

Customer Reviews

An awe inspiring work of a tale of pure survival!
This was the first work on the founding of New South Wales that I had seen since Robert Hughes' masterpeice The Fatal Shore and it was with some reservation concerning the authors stance on history that I purchased this text. My misgivings were scotched after the first few pages. This is a very readable and entertaining history of the Sydney experiment that does justice to both whites and blacks and is interspersed with colourful prose, ironic humour and well rounded biographies of the main characters in what was quintessentially a race dominated crucible. Whilst the narrative covers, in depth, the founding four years or so and is very detailed this work is not simply a carbon copy of The Fatal Shore rather a microscopic study of the crucial years of survival for a colony that would in years later become the great nation of Australia. My only criticism is that for the price the author could have perhaps littered his work with colour plates and illustrations so as to make ownership of this book more of a pleasure.