Tells the story of modern Australia begins in eighteenth-century Britain, where people were hanged for petty offences but crime was rife, and the gaols were bursting.

Subtitled, "The Story Of The Founding Of Australia". A lively history of the 'First Fleet' which took convicts from Britain to Australia in 1787. It also tells the story of the early years of Sydney, which was founded as 'an open-air prison', and the colonisation of New South Wales. 'Evocative, broad-ranging and intelligently observed' "Mail on Sunday"