This is not a bad book nor is Hughes is a bad writer. But it is a book for a certain kind of reader who wants a certain kind of story. If you ever had to start with one book about Australia, I would suggest checking out Bill Bryson's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/In-a-Sunburned-Country/dp/0767903862/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">In a Sunburned Country</a>&nbsp;instead.

The Fatal Shore details the founding of Australia's convict colonies. There is a lot of emphasis on Sydney, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Norfolk Island, and even a tiny bit on what would become Perth in Western Australia. We don't really get much history about the free settlers or about other colonies like Melbourne. Instead we get a good amount of social and economic history of England in the 18th century and a whole lot of convict history in Australia as it relates to the convicts while being non-free men. Precious little is given about the convicts post-emancipation. And this is what moves the rating down to three stars.

People say this is a masterpiece. Compared to what I would like to ask them? To other books about Australian history or in general? This is finely researched but the presentation is lacking. I slogged through this book because I am an Australian citizen myself and wanted to learn more about the way Australia was founded. I did learn something but not really enough about how the colonies evolved during the time span covered (1788 to the Gold Rush period). And that is quite sad for such a lengthy book.
This is not a bad book nor is Hughes is a bad writer. But it is a book for a certain kind of reader who wants a certain kind of story. If you ever had to start with one book about Australia, I would suggest checking out Bill Bryson's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/In-a-Sunburned-Country/dp/0767903862/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt? ie=UTF8">In a Sunburned Country</a>&nbsp;instead. The Fatal Shore details the founding of Australia's convict colonies. There is a lot of emphasis on Sydney, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Norfolk Island, and even a tiny bit on what would become Perth in Western Australia. We don't really get much history about the free settlers or about other colonies like Melbourne. Instead we get a good amount of social and economic history of England in the 18th century and a whole lot of convict history in Australia as it relates to the convicts while being non-free men. Precious little is given about the convicts post-emancipation. And this is what moves the rating down to three stars. People say this is a masterpiece. Compared to what I would like to ask them? To other books about Australian history or in general? This is finely researched but the presentation is lacking. I slogged through this book because I am an Australian citizen myself and wanted to learn more about the way Australia was founded. I did learn something but not really enough about how the colonies evolved during the time span covered (1788 to the Gold Rush period). And that is quite sad for such a lengthy book.