The author of Schindler's List and many other books, both
fiction and non-fiction, knows how to spin a narrative, making
this fact-filled account of the first four years of the British
in Australia a good tale. He tells us about the changes in land
use called enclosure that resulted in a large number of
villagers in Britain moving to cities where they turned to crime
to survive. The prison population grew and the British
government hit upon the idea of transporting convicts to
colonies. When the American colonies were no longer available, a
fleet was organized to transport convicts to Australia under the
leadership of Arthur Phillip. We hear the dispassionately told,
but nevertheless horrifying descriptions of conditions of the
convicts as they lived in the prisons and eventually in hulks of
old ships moored on the Thames, and finally their transportation
to the other side of the world. Keneally brings the events to
life by describing individuals. Trying to give a thorough
description of this book is overwhel