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Home > History and Archaeology > History > Australasian and Pacific history > The Commonwealth of Thieves: The Story of the Founding of Australia
The Commonwealth of Thieves: The Story of the Founding of Australia

The Commonwealth of Thieves: The Story of the Founding of Australia


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About the Book

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. From this situation was born the Sydney experiment, with criminals perceived to be damaging British society transported to Sydney, an 'open air prison with walls 14,000 miles thick'.

Eleven ships were dispatched in 1781, and arrived in Australia after eight hellish months at sea. Tom Keneally describes the first four years of the 'thief colony' and how, despite the escapes, the floggings, the murders and the rebellions, it survived against the odds to create a culture which would never have been tolerated in its homeland but which, in Australia, became part of the identity of a new and audacious nation.

By the author of Schindler's Ark, since made into the internationally acclaimed film, Schindler's List.



About the Author :
Thomas Keneally is married with two daughters and a grandson, and lives most of the year in Sydney, Australia. His numerous books include novels, memoirs and history. He has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, and won it in 1982 with Schindler's Ark since made by Steven Spielberg into the internationally acclaimed film Schindler's List.

Review :
Australia is lucky to have Keneally. Few writers have a public voice that one wants to take to the bedroom... He gets down and dirty with his characters form their perspective at the time... complex moderate and humane... likely to endure Evocative, broad-ranging and intelligently observed Keneally has deployed his outstanding talents as a narrative writer to produce an enlivening, informative and judicious book about his country's troubled origins Keneally has always had a grand talent for the telling of a tale. His rattling account of the genesis of his native city is one of his very best The Commonwealth of Thieves is immaculately researched and historically exact... a great read and a useful scholarly resource....an account of an extraordinary event described with gusto and sympathy [A] beautifully written account of the foundation of New South Wales, complete with disastrous attitudes towards the "Indians" and a horrific account of the convicts' sea-crossing Elegantly written and solidly researched narrative... this is a fascinating study of a unique social experiment Keneally uses his novelist's skill to construct a lively mosaic from contemporary accounts of what today seems an utterly barbaric process Tom Keneally's book offers an engaging treatment of a subject which over the years has provoked a long and sometimes heated debate


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780099483748
  • Publisher: Vintage Publishing
  • Publisher Imprint: Vintage
  • Height: 196 mm
  • No of Pages: 528
  • Sub Title: The Story of the Founding of Australia
  • Width: 132 mm
  • ISBN-10: 0099483742
  • Publisher Date: 07 Jun 2007
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Language: English
  • Spine Width: 35 mm
  • Weight: 430 gr


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    BoxerLover2 - 5 Days ago
    A Thrilling But Totally Believable Murder Mystery

    Read this in one evening. I had planned to do other things with my day, but it was impossible to put down. Every time I tried, I was drawn back to it in less than 5 minutes. I sobbed my eyes out the entire last 100 pages. Highly recommend!

    BoxerLover2 - 5 Days ago
    A Thrilling But Totally Believable Murder Mystery

    Read this in one evening. I had planned to do other things with my day, but it was impossible to put down. Every time I tried, I was drawn back to it in less than 5 minutes. I sobbed my eyes out the entire last 100 pages. Highly recommend!


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