The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding by Robert Hughes Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.99 You Save: $13.96 (70%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding
Book Review: Best Social History of Australia/Georgian England
Summary: 5 Stars
Hughes has done the nearly impossible-written a page turner of a social history. Roughly the first third of the book is in fact mostly about Georgian England and the "Hogarthian" conditions that led to the system of transprtation, the "First Fleet" and the founding of Australia.
He amply demonstrates one of his basic theses: Australia conclusively disproves the genetic theory of transmission of criminal behavior: the continent was first populated by 160,000 theives, burglars, pickpockets & etc., and eventually became one of the most respectable, law abiding societies on earth.
His other pregnant conclusion, that the Australian sublimation of the "convict stain" of their past kept Austrailians from coming to terms with their convict origins until the last 20-30 years seems spot on.
The book is full of colorful characters, glorious detail and paints a panorama of a system and a period in the history of two societies that deserves a careful read from anyone even vaguely interested in either country, penology or just cracking good social history.
I loved it!