The First Fleet: The Real StoryIn 1787 a convoy of eleven ships, carrying about 1500 people, set out from England for Botany Bay. According to the conventional account, it was a shambolic affair: under - prepared, poorly equipped and ill - disciplined. Robert Hughes condemned the organisers' ''muddle and lack of foresight'', while Manning Clark described scenes of ''indescribable misery and confusion''. In The First Fleet: The Real Story, Alan Frost draws on previously forgotten records to debunk these persistent myths. He shows that the voyage was in fact meticulously planned - reflecting its importance to the British government's secret ambitions for imperial expansion. He examines the ships and supplies, passengers and behind - the - scenes discussions. In the process, he reveals the hopes and schemes of those who planned the voyage, and the experiences of those who made it. |
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Contents
Announcing the Decision | 3 |
The Colony Society Law and Governance | 18 |
The People 1 Officials and Officers | 49 |
People 2 Ships Crews Marines Convicts Wives | 72 |
The Ships | 97 |
Equipping the Colonists | 118 |
Loading the Ships and Embarking the People | 146 |
At Portsmouth | 167 |
Preparing Bodies for the PART FOUR THE Voyage VOYAGE | 184 |
Leaving the PART FIVE THE World COST | 211 |
No Cheaper Mode? | 243 |
Conclusion | 267 |
Acknowledgments | 293 |
Select Bibliography | 361 |
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Common terms and phrases
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