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A Commonwealth of Thieves
- The Improbable Birth of Australia
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
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Publisher's Summary
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 and 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.
Critic Reviews
"In the style of the best historians [Keneally] allows the intrinsic power of the tales he tells and the people who populate his pages to draw the reader into a fully elaborated universe." (The New York Times)
"Keneally has all the gifts of a great storyteller: a curious eye, a clear voice, worldly knowledge, and an innocent, inexhaustible heart." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Keneally is joyfully inquisitive. He enters naturally and sympathetically into the hearts of his protagonists - his own prose takes on the flavour of the period he invokes." (Times Literary Supplement)
"Keneally's atmospheric and descriptive powers are formidable." (Boston Globe)
"Keneally has a gift for heroic stories." (Washington Post)
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What listeners say about A Commonwealth of Thieves
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Dan
- 08-23-07
Interesting tidbits, but slow overall
This book tells the story of the founding settlement of Australia, with detailed descriptions of the English penal system, details of maritime life, famines and other issues faced by the settlers, and the interactions with aboriginal tribes.
While I normally consume such historical novels, I found this one pretty tedious and slow. The narrative just never really seemed to pick up steam. Still, I did learn a decent amount about early Australia, which is worth something.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Eric Pietz
- 01-30-09
Very detailed. Paints a vivid picture.
I wanted to read this book because I was curious about the birth of Australia as a penal colony. The book does a good job explaining the state of the penal system in 18th century britain, the types of convicts sentenced to transportation and the journey to the other side of the earth. There is good description of the landing at botany bay and sydney cove, the interactions with the aboriginies and the provisions on land but this book is screaming to be abridged. I feel like these 12 hours could have been wrapped up in 6.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- E. Murphy
- 01-20-22
A little long.
I enjoyed it but felt that it could have been shorter. Painted a good picture of the times and struggles.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Elizabeth Erickson
- 01-16-19
GREAT BOOK, WRONG READER
The style and content are masterful and arresting. The sneering & sarcastic tone of the reader I found irritating.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Dr.J.A.P.
- 05-22-18
a bit dry, but good
A classical history book that teaches you pretty much everything you need to know about relevant English history, who did or did not find Australia (and which time) and the events that led up colonization/the first penal colony, and what happened after they landed. Well read.
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Performance
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Story
- Lesli Hogan
- 02-08-16
Really interesting but ...
Simon Vance is a wonderful narrator, but an Australian might have been nice. There were some mispronunciations of place names that were a bit jarring.
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Overall
- Shannon
- 10-26-09
entertaining listen
I "read" this prior to a recent trip to a Australia and I found it helpful. My Aussie friends kept saying how boring their history is, but I beg to differ..Australia's history is fascinating.
I was hoping for more background on the Aborigines, knowing full well that this book's main concern was on the colonists history. It did a great job in the telling of the colonist/convict struggle to survive.
Australia rocked by the way...can't wait to go back.
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Story
The incredible true story of one of the most extraordinary and inspirational prison breaks in history. Boston, 1869. Members of the Clan na Gael - agitators for an Irish republic - hatch a daring plan to free six Irish political prisoners from the most remote gaol on earth, Fremantle Prison in Western Australia. Under the guise of a whale hunt, Captain Anthony sets sail on the Catalpa, risking his life to rescue the men from the prison, known among the inmates as 'a living tomb'.
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Terrific yarn
- By Garrett on 05-13-19
By: Peter FitzSimons
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Mutiny on the Bounty
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 22 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave.
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You don't know the whole story.
- By Justin Sluyter on 05-01-19
By: Peter FitzSimons
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James Cook
- The Story Behind the Man Who Mapped the World
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 21 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The name Captain James Cook is one of the most recognisable in Australian history - an almost mythic figure who is often discussed, celebrated, reviled and debated. But who was the real James Cook? This Yorkshire farm boy would go on to become the foremost mariner, scientist, navigator and cartographer of his era, and to personally map a third of the globe. His great voyages of discovery were incredible feats of seamanship and navigation.
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Great. But...
- By Scaason on 05-01-21
By: Peter FitzSimons
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Three Famines
- By: Thomas Keneally
- Narrated by: Peter Byrne
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the story of three terrible famines. The first is an Gorta Mór, the great hunger of Ireland, which began in 1846. The second is the deadly famine that struck Bengal in 1943. The third is the Ethiopian famine, which first sprung up in lethal form in the 1970s under Emperor Haile Selassie and then reappeared under the brutal dictator Mengistu in the 1980s.
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A Clinical Approach to Starvation
- By Lynn on 01-03-12
By: Thomas Keneally
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The Great Shame
- And the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World
- By: Thomas Keneally
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 35 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Keneally, the Booker Prize-winning author of Schindler’s List, is universally praised for crafting smooth narratives from authentic historical events. With The Great Shame, he turns his insightful eye toward the Irish struggle through the 19h century. In sharp contrast to much of Europe, Ireland was a terrible place to be during the 1800s. Many of the nation’s finest people set sail for America and Canada.
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First read
- By WGrubb on 04-08-16
By: Thomas Keneally
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Alison's Conviction
- A Point in Time collection
- By: Thomas Keneally
- Narrated by: Tamala Shelton
- Length: 1 hr and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When Alison Strange receives a debt claim she can’t afford to pay from the Australian government’s unemployment office, she’s caught completely off-balance. As she wrestles with a slippery bureaucracy, her history-loving grandfather bolsters her resolve with the story of their ancestor John Strange, an English cobbler who was banished to Australia for his part in a political movement. Drawing inspiration from John’s life, Alison finds her own unique way to demand a future that’s fair for all.
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Quick short story
- By Teresa on 01-21-23
By: Thomas Keneally
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In a Sunburned Country
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion on the Appalachian Trail resulted in the best seller A Walk in the Woods. Now, we follow him "Down Under" to Australia with this delectably funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance that combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiosity. More from Bill Bryson.
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Laugh out loud funny
- By Larry on 06-09-03
By: Bill Bryson
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The Book of Science and Antiquities
- A Novel
- By: Thomas Keneally
- Narrated by: Paul Haley
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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An award-winning documentary filmmaker, Shelby Apple is obsessed with reimagining the full story of the Learned Man - a prehistoric man whose remains are believed to be the link between Africa and ancient Australia. From Vietnam to Northern Africa and the Australian outback, Shelby searches for understanding of this enigmatic man from the ancient past, unaware the two men share a great deal in common.
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A novel nonsequential book that is 50% pretty good
- By Stephen on 12-26-19
By: Thomas Keneally
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Burke and Wills
- The Triumph and Tragedy of Australia's Most Famous Explorers
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 23 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The iconic Australian exploration story - brought to life by Peter FitzSimons, Australia's storyteller. 'They have left here today!' he calls to the others. When King puts his hand down above the ashes of the fire, it is to find it still hot. There is even a tiny flame flickering from the end of one log. They must have left just hours ago. Melbourne, 20 August 1860. In an ambitious quest to be the first Europeans to cross the harsh Australian continent, the Victorian Exploring Expedition sets off, with 15,000 well-wishers cheering them on.
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This Yarn Is Rather Needling—Off The Rails, Even
- By Nicholas Robinson on 05-08-20
By: Peter FitzSimons
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Batavia's Graveyard
- The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny
- By: Mike Dash
- Narrated by: Guy Bethell
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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It was the autumn of 1628, and the Batavia, the Dutch East India Company's flagship, was loaded with a king's ransom in gold, silver, and gems for her maiden voyage to Java. The Batavia was the pride of the company's fleet, a tangible symbol of the world's richest and most powerful commercial monopoly. She set sail with great fanfare, but the Batavia and her gold would never reach Java.
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Perhaps the best book ever
- By Ray928 on 03-12-19
By: Mike Dash
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The Boer War
- By: Martin Bossenbroek
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 19 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Boer War, winner of the Netherland's 2013 Libris History Prize and shortlisted for the 2013 AKO Literature Prize, the author brings a completely new perspective to this chapter of South African history, critically examining the involvement of the Netherlands in the war. Furthermore, unlike other accounts, Martin Bossenbroek explores the war primarily through the experiences of three men uniquely active during the bloody conflict.
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Interesting and engaging view of the War
- By Douglas on 04-17-18
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The Botanist’s Daughter
- By: Kayte Nunn
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In Victorian England, headstrong adventuress Elizabeth takes up her late father's quest for a rare, miraculous plant. She faces a perilous sea voyage, unforeseen dangers and treachery that threatens her entire family. In present-day Australia, Anna finds a mysterious metal box containing a sketchbook of dazzling watercolours, a photograph inscribed 'Spring 1886' and a small bag of seeds. It sets her on a path far from her safe, carefully ordered life and on a journey that will force her to face her own demons.
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Caroline Lee is superb! But the story not so much
- By Maria on 08-22-18
By: Kayte Nunn