The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding by Robert Hughes Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding
Book Review: An excellent and informative historical account.
Summary: 5 Stars
A brilliant book. Very interesting throughout, and makes you really wonder what conditions were like on board the convict ships. Extremely good value for money.Book Review: Brilliantly written, worthy of it's rating.
Summary: 5 Stars
Blows away any thoughts that these unfortunates were criminals. The historical precedent for transportation are explained, as well as the social conditions prevailing in England at the time. One cannot but have the most profound feelings for these unfortunates who were to lay the foundations for a country that has one of the highest living standards in the modern world. I would recommend it as a book of reference for any student covering the period of white settlement of Australia. It is a pity that Mr Hughes allows his anti-monarchist feelings to show in an otherwise excellent account.Book Review: Fascinating
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this during a year working in Sydney and couldn't put it down (which says a great deal for a work of non-fiction!). The descriptions of the hardships faced by convicts were so vivid that I went to see many of the places for myself. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.Book Review: A fantastic insight into the forgotten British gulags
Summary: 5 Stars
I studied English history for many years at school, and not once was the shameful secret of transportation mentioned in the syllabus. The scale of cruelty and barbarism described by Hughes in some parts of the Colony is staggering, but what strikes most about the book is its evenhandness. The convicts' backgrounds and unconventional social mores are fully investigated, as is their treatment at the hands of unknowing and uncaring British petty colonialists. What are more uncertain are Hughes' assertions about the effect of the convict past on the Australian character of today - is the convict past really an issue in Australian social politics (other than a friendly taunt to visiting pommies)? Still, an enthralling, deeply moving and informative read, a must for students of English or Australian history, or visitors to Australia.Book Review: An excellent read.
Summary: 5 Stars
I agree with general consensus of opinion that this is an absolutely fascinating book, superbly researched and gripping in its narrative. I have only a few minor gripes: Mr Hughes is too ready to demonise the British (specifically the English) by judging eighteenth century laws by twenty-first century standards. If you can imagine living in a large metropolis, such as eighteenth century London, with no electricity, no means of communication, no police force at the end of the phone, then the laws to protect property and person seem positively liberal. I was also disappointed by Mr Hughes's ignorant and insulting habit of saying "English" when what he means is "British" and howlers such as describing the crime for which the Chartist John Frost was transported: "he had been sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered for leading an ill-armed band of insurrectionary miners from the Monmouth Hills against the English Town of Newport" (Newport is in Wales) and (p426) "after 1815, England began to pay the full price for its recent defeat in war" Did I miss something about Waterloo? Never mind, this is still a cracking read and worth anybody's money.