The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding (Paperback)
June 23, 2009 by Aussie
Filed under Outback Guide Reviews
Review
An extraordinary volume–even a masterpiece–about the early history of Australia that reads like the finest of novels. Hughes captures everything in this complex tableau with narrative finesse that drives the reader ever-deeper into specific facts and greater understanding. He presents compassionate understanding of the plights of colonists–both freemen and convicts–and the Aboriginal peoples they displaced. One of the very best works of history I have ever r (more…)
As luck would have it, I recently had the opportunity to make a brief business trip to Australia. I knew very little about Australia and thought the best way to get some brief but non-superficial background would be to learn something of its history. I opted to read Robert Hughes’s book which tells the story of Australia’s founding and of its convict past. The book is lengthy, even too lengthy to complete on the 14 hour flights from the West Coast of the United States to Sydney and back. But the story was fascinating, and the book was well worth the attention and effort.
Hughes tells the story of the discovery of Australia, the decision of Great Britain to “transport” its convicted to the continent, the various kinds of lives the convicts found there, the aboriginal settlers and their treatment by the newcomers, and the ultimate creation of a new society. There are harrowing accounts of the passage from Britain to Australia in the convict ships, and still shocking accounts of the secondary places of punishment created in Australia for repeat offenders — places such as Norfolk Island, Port Aurthur, and Macquarrie Bay. Hughes describes these nineteenth century camps as precursors of the Gulag in our own time, and I am afraid he is correct. They reminded me to of Andersonville Prison in our own Civil War but on a much broader, more wicked scale. The description of the prisons and barbaric punishments were to me the most vivid portions of the book.
Besides the horror stories, there is a great deal of nuanced, thoughtful writing in the book about the settlement and building of Australia and of the dangers of facile over-generalization about how the convicts fared, or about virtually any other historical subject. Some were able to serve out their sentences and rise to prosperity and a new life. Others were shamefully abused. The history of the aboriginal peoples too is described and it is an unhappy subject, alas.
Hughes begins with the early days of the transport and concludes when the system was finally abolished in the 1850′s as a result of protests and of the Australian gold rush.
After reading this book, I thought I had realized my goal of learning something of Australia. More importantly, I felt part of the land even though I hadn’t seen it before and will likely never see it again. Places that I read about and that were only names took on character and importance.
I have read a substantial amount of United States history but hadn’t read about Australia before. This book is well-documented, eloquently written and has a feel for the pulse of its subject. It is an outstanding work of history and is sure to broaden the human perspective of the reader.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dry, overly technical
While there is all sorts of interesting information about the founding of Australia, it is overly dry and technical — more of a textbook than I had hoped.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don’t waste your money
I’m surprised to see so many positive reviews. I found the book terribly boring. It is written from a narrow, Marxist perspective, and the author’s political views creep in far…
5.0 out of 5 stars
fascinating history
I received this book as a gift years ago and never got around to reading it. Now that I finally started it, I can only say I really missed a terrific book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sets The Standard
“The Fatal Shore” by Robert Hughes is the one book which is always mentioned when it comes to books about the history of Australia, and for good reason.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A magnificent achievement
Robert Hughes has written a towering account of the years during which Britain transported convicts to Australia, thereby beginning the colonization of a continent that would one…
2.0 out of 5 stars
exaggerated emphasis on blood
There’s no doubt that the lash and hangman’s rope played an important role in early New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania).
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Enlightening Read
In short this book has taught me a great deal about the history of Australia and I totally disagree with other reviews that make out it is biased in some way.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cultural Amnesia
The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding
By Robert Hughes
Australia is one of those faraway places you read about in National Geographic…
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very strong research but with a dense and morbid writing cadance
Robert Hughes’ The Fatal Shore is an assiduously and tirelessly researched work on the Western “founding” of Australia through essentially an experiment with a penal colony…
5.0 out of 5 stars
What’s This Book Got To Do With America ?
To the reviewer below…..this book is about the founding of Australia. It has nothing to with America.