A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia
by Keneally, Thomas
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Fine in Fine dust jacket
- ISBN 10
- 038551459X
- ISBN 13
- 9780385514590
- Seller
-
Georgetown, Texas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Doubleday. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 2006. First Edition. Hardcover. Protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. Red orange boards with black spine imprinted in gold with title and author. Full number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. Deckle-edged pages . 385 pages .
Synopsis
It was 1786 when Arthur Phillip, an ambitious captain in the Royal Navy, was assigned the formidable task of organizing an expedition to Australia in order to establish a penal colony. The squalid and turbulent prisons of London were overflowing, and crime was on the rise. Even the hulks sifting at anchor in the Thames were packed with malcontent criminals and petty thieves. So the English government decided to undertake the unprecedented move of shipping off its convicts to a largely unexplored landmass at the other end of the world.Using the personal journals and documents that were kept during this expedition, historian/novelist Thomas Keneally re-creates the grueling overseas voyage, a hellish, suffocating journey that claimed the lives of many convicts. Miraculously, the fleet reached the shores of what was then called New South Wales in 1788, and after much trial and error, the crew managed to set up a rudimentary yet vibrant settlement. As governor of the colony, Phillip took on the challenges of dealing with unruly convicts, disgruntled officers, a bewildered, sometimes hostile native population, as well as such serious matters as food shortages and disease. Moving beyond Phillip, Keneally offers captivating portrayals of Aborigines, who both aided and opposed Phillip, and of the settlers, including convicts who were determined to overcome their pasts and begin anew.With the authority of a renowned historian and the narrative grace of a brilliant novelist, Thomas Keneally offers an insider's perspective into the dramatic saga of the birth of a vibrant society in an unfamiliar land. A Commonwealth of Thieves immerses us in the fledgling penal colony and conjures up colorful scenes of the joy and heartbreak, the thrills and hardships that characterized those first four improbable years. The result is a lively and engrossing work of history, as well as a tale of redemption for the thousands of convicts who started new lives thousands of miles from their homes.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Storbeck's
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 608833
- Title
- A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia
- Author
- Keneally, Thomas
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine in Fine dust jacket
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN 10
- 038551459X
- ISBN 13
- 9780385514590
- Publisher
- Doubleday
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2006
- Keywords
- HISTORY, AUSTRALIA
- Bookseller catalogs
- History / Australia;
Terms of Sale
Storbeck's
Storbeck's accepts payment by Mastercard, Visa, American Excpress, Discover, PayPal, check or moneyorder. 8.25% sales tax on orders shipped to Texas.
About the Seller
Storbeck's
Biblio member since 2003
Georgetown, Texas
About Storbeck's
Storbeck's has a wide selection of genealogy books, maps and supplies for the family historian or genealogist researching in the United States, Europe, Scandinavia, the British Isles and Canada.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Brodart
- Generally used to refer to a clear plastic cover that is sometimes added to the dustjacket or outside covering of a book. The...
- Number Line
- A series of numbers appearing on the copyright page of a book, where the lowest number generally indicates the printing of that...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
Frequently asked questions
This Book’s Categories
Handling and Storing Books
Take care of your old books — vintage, antiquarian, and fine — with these tips from a professional bookseller
Bob Dylan - 2016 Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
From the first screech of his electric guitar upsetting musicians at a folk festival to his writing and paintings, Bob Dylan has risen to become a seminal force in American popular culture. In 2016, he was recognized by the Nobel Committee. Learn more about his creations...
