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 er of Tbs B. , Captain OF THIEVES Wales and Dependencies , e Sere HARD RO Territory THE IMPROBABLE BIRTH OF AUSTRALIA " A readable , anecdote- packed account of a tragic colonial experiment . ... Keneally ...
Thomas Keneally. A COMMONWEALTH er of Tbs B. , Captain OF THIEVES Wales and Dependencies , e Sere HARD RO Territory THE IMPROBABLE BIRTH OF AUSTRALIA " A readable , anecdote- packed account of a tragic colonial experiment . ... Keneally ...
Page 4
... captain of the Dutch East India Company , had crossed this stretch to discover the island he would name Van Diemen's Land after his Viceroy in Batavia ( now Jakarta ) , but which would in the end be named Tasmania to honour him . His ...
... captain of the Dutch East India Company , had crossed this stretch to discover the island he would name Van Diemen's Land after his Viceroy in Batavia ( now Jakarta ) , but which would in the end be named Tasmania to honour him . His ...
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... captain named Arthur Phillip , a man of solid but not glittering naval reputation , with some experience under fire . He had been at sea since the age of thirteen , and had no connection with the British penal system . But that did not ...
... captain named Arthur Phillip , a man of solid but not glittering naval reputation , with some experience under fire . He had been at sea since the age of thirteen , and had no connection with the British penal system . But that did not ...
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... captain's rank in the Royal Navy ; others that he was a foredeck hand . Seaman or Captain Her- bert died while still in his twenties of a fever caught during his duty on the Jamaica station . Indeed , it did not seem he had lived long ...
... captain's rank in the Royal Navy ; others that he was a foredeck hand . Seaman or Captain Her- bert died while still in his twenties of a fever caught during his duty on the Jamaica station . Indeed , it did not seem he had lived long ...
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... Captain Phillip would have led me to select him for a service of this complicated nature . " But Sydney liked and admired professional officers like Phillip , whom he rightly con- sidered the journeymen of Empire . And then , this was a ...
... Captain Phillip would have led me to select him for a service of this complicated nature . " But Sydney liked and admired professional officers like Phillip , whom he rightly con- sidered the journeymen of Empire . And then , this was a ...
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