Amazon.com An extraordinary volume--even a masterpiece--about the early history of Australia that reads like the finest of novels. Hughes captures everything in this complex tableau with narrative finesse that drives the reader ever-deeper into specific facts and greater understanding. He presents compassionate understanding of the plights of colonists--both freemen and convicts--and the Aboriginal peoples they displaced. One of the very best works of history I have ever read. From Library Journal For 80 years between 1788 and 1868 England transported its convicts to Australia. This punishment provided the first immigrants and the work force to build the colony. Using diaries， letters， and original sources， Hughes meticulously documents this history. All sides of the story are told: the political and social reasoning behind the Transportation System， the viewpoint of the captains who had the difficult job of governing and developing the colonies， and of course the dilemma of the prisoners. This is a very thorough and accurate history of Australian colonization written by the author of the book and BBC/Time-Life TV series The Shock of the New . A definitive work that is an essential purchase for both public and academic libraries. BOMC and History Book Club main selections. Judith Nixon， Purdue Univ. Libs.， W. Lafayette， Ind.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews