A Commonwealth of ThievesIn this spirited history of the remarkable first four years of the convict settlement of Australia, Thomas Keneally offers us a human view of a fascinating piece of history. Combining the authority of a renowned historian with a brilliant narrative flair, Keneally gives us an inside view of this unprecedented experiment from the perspective of the new colony’s governor, Arthur Phillips. Using personal journals and documents, Keneally re-creates the hellish overseas voyage and the challenges Phillips faced upon arrival: unruly convicts, disgruntled officers, bewildered and hostile natives, food shortages, and disease. He also offers captivating portrayals of Aborigines and of convict settlers who were determined to begin their lives anew. A Commonwealth of Thieves immerses us in the fledgling penal colony and conjures up the thrills and hardships of those first four improbable years. |
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Thomas Keneally. A COMMONWEALTH of THIEVES THE IMPROBABLE BIRTH OF AUSTRALIA THOMAS KENEALLY Anchor Books A Division of Random House , Inc. New York FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION , DECEMBER 2007 Copyright © 2005.
Thomas Keneally. A COMMONWEALTH of THIEVES THE IMPROBABLE BIRTH OF AUSTRALIA THOMAS KENEALLY Anchor Books A Division of Random House , Inc. New York FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION , DECEMBER 2007 Copyright © 2005.
Page 8
... first offender in theft cases was entitled , by a legal technicality , to claim the grotesque medieval " benefit of clergy . " The imputation was that the court could not prove the prisoner had not received divine orders , or the early ...
... first offender in theft cases was entitled , by a legal technicality , to claim the grotesque medieval " benefit of clergy . " The imputation was that the court could not prove the prisoner had not received divine orders , or the early ...
Page 10
... first painstaking survey of conditions in English prisons , Howard's The State of the Prisons , was published , and gaol reform became a popular issue . Howard was a Bedfordshire squire who had been ap- pointed to the sinecure of county ...
... first painstaking survey of conditions in English prisons , Howard's The State of the Prisons , was published , and gaol reform became a popular issue . Howard was a Bedfordshire squire who had been ap- pointed to the sinecure of county ...
Page 14
... first settlement , a great many of the convicts would die . " But over time , as the land was better cultivated , " they would grow more healthy . " Botany Bay in New South Wales , on a coast Cook had visited in 1770 , had an eloquent ...
... first settlement , a great many of the convicts would die . " But over time , as the land was better cultivated , " they would grow more healthy . " Botany Bay in New South Wales , on a coast Cook had visited in 1770 , had an eloquent ...
Page 15
... first Viscount Sydney , was a political operator whose real name was Thomas Townshend . He already had a solid politi- cal career , having been Secretary of War in a previous government and then Home Secretary under both Shelburne and ...
... first Viscount Sydney , was a political operator whose real name was Thomas Townshend . He already had a solid politi- cal career , having been Secretary of War in a previous government and then Home Secretary under both Shelburne and ...
Contents
Section 16 | 218 |
Section 17 | 230 |
Section 18 | 245 |
Section 19 | 257 |
Section 20 | 270 |
Section 21 | 279 |
Section 22 | 289 |
Section 23 | 295 |
Section 9 | 135 |
Section 10 | 161 |
Section 11 | 171 |
Section 12 | 186 |
Section 13 | 190 |
Section 14 | 197 |
Section 15 | 204 |
Section 24 | 305 |
Section 25 | 320 |
Section 26 | 339 |
Section 27 | 363 |
Section 28 | 369 |
Other editions - View all
A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia Thomas Keneally No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
aboard Aboriginal alphabetical listing amongst Arabanoo arrived Arthur Phillip ashore Australia Barangaroo Bateson Bennelong boat Botany Bay Bowes Smyth British brought Bryant Cape Town Captain clothing coast Colby colony convict women Cook crew David Collins death England Eora European Evan Nepean fish Flynn Gorgon Government House governor harbour head honour hulks Irish John Johnson journey Kable King Lady Juliana Lady Penrhyn land Lieutenant London Lord Sydney Macarthur Major Ross male convicts marines Mary McEntire Nagle named natives Nepean Neptune Newgate Nicol Norfolk Island officers Parramatta Parramatta River party Pemulwuy penal Pérouse Philip Gidley King Phillip in Hunter Port Jackson Portsmouth pounds prison deck punishment Ralph Clark rations River sail sailors Second Fleet sent sentenced settlement ships Sirius soldiers South Wales Corps spear Supply Surgeon White Sydney Cove told transportation victs voyage Watkin Tench Wentworth wife woman wound wrote young