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Convict Colony
- The Remarkable Story of the Fledgling Settlement That Survived Against the Odds
- Narrated by: Conrad Coleby
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
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Publisher's summary
Best-selling historian David Hill tells the story of the first three decades of Britain's earliest colony in Australia in a fresh and compelling way.
The British plan to settle Australia was a high-risk venture. We now take it for granted that the first colony was the basis of one of the most successful nations in the world today. But in truth, the New World of the 18th century was dotted with failed colonies, and New South Wales nearly joined them.
The motley crew of unruly marines and bedraggled convicts who arrived at Botany Bay in 1788 in leaky boats nearly starved to death. They could easily have been murdered by hostile locals, been overwhelmed by an attack from French or Spanish expeditions or been brought undone by the Castle Hill uprising of 1804. Yet through fortunate decisions, a few remarkably good leaders and, most of all, good luck, Sydney survived and thrived.
Critic reviews
"David Hill captures Australia’s past in a very readable way." (The Weekly Times)
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- Bruce Hill
- 09-02-21
Fantastic
Loved this book. Made it so vivid. Had many ancestors involved in some of the incidents so it was very special to hear the stories.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-28-20
Quality Reference
Very easy to listen and comprehend Gives an informative without minute details such that one gets a good grasp of both the time as well as the people Highly recommended
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- Paulo D
- 01-16-23
Great insight into the challenges faced by early colonists
After watching the BBC series “Banished” I was interested in getting more details about the challenges faced at the colonisation of Australia. This book gave a great insight into how difficult life was for everyone and indeed how close it came to not succeeding.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-09-23
Excellent read
Highly recommend this audiobook. Lots of in depth details without being too dry. The narrator is great as well!
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- Anonymous User
- 08-14-21
A outstanding book.
I am currently studying this topic at a tertiary level, this book is more object and informative, then the required reading of my course.
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- Lucy
- 01-14-21
Enriching
David Hill has written a fascinating history of the colonisation of Australia by the British. The history places into context the political and social forces behind transportation, the global machinations behind exploration and colonization of the southern islands and a harrowing account of the lives of convicts,
the dispossession and devastation inflicted on the aboriginal peoples... and an enlightening account of major players..The “Father of Australia” chapter has made me forever grateful to Governor Macquarie .. really the first truly “Australian” leader.. a humanist ahead of his times.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-30-20
Well worth a read
I love the Australian history and as my father was a local historian I grew up hearing the early stories of the convicts. The harsh conditions of our early colonial days are definitely depicted in this book. There are a few errors, such as Bathurst being built on the Lachlan River. Bathurst is situated on the Macquarie River. Barriellier's map has him at the Little River at Porters Retreat south of Oberon, as he came up from the south.
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- Dan
- 08-14-20
Interesting story, hard to listen to narrator
Narrator tells story with no expression and is hard to listen to. Story got lost
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- Daniel Balestri
- 08-10-20
Really good book
Great reading voice ...however, the production was hard to listen to at times. There were continuous level changes even mid-paragraph to the point that it sounded like it was being cobbled together from recordings made in three different studios, all with different types of equipment. Some foreign accents were great, but there were some strange pronunciations of otherwise normal words.
I'd still recommend the book. it would be great if Coleby could record a second edition.
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- Ricardo
- 06-28-20
Great, decidedly non-academic history
Solid history of earliest settlement and the men behind it. Focus on the latter probably an artifact of period, but surely more room for female perspective. Oftentimes quite light and skips across decades, but in keeping with an accessible history rather than detailed chronology. A-
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- By Dan on 08-23-07
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Story
On the afternoon of 8 April 1802, in the remote southern ocean, two explorers had a remarkable chance encounter. Englishman Matthew Flinders and Frenchman Nicolas Baudin had been sent by their governments on the same quest: to explore the uncharted coast of the great south land and find out whether the west and east coasts, four thousand kilometres apart, were part of the same island. And so began the race to compile the definitive map of Australia.
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The Story of Australia that I Never Knew
- By MarkH on 04-05-13
By: David Hill
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A Commonwealth of Thieves
- The Improbable Birth of Australia
- By: Thomas Keneally
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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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. 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.
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Interesting tidbits, but slow overall
- By Dan on 08-23-07
By: Thomas Keneally
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Sons of the Waves
- The Common Seaman in the Heroic Age of Sail
- By: Stephen Taylor
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, "illiterate" seamen. Now, Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words. In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs.
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Navy Guy Recommends this Title
- By Lexcast on 06-17-20
By: Stephen Taylor
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A Stranger Among Saints
- Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth
- By: Jonathan Mack
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Sometime between 1610 and 1611, William Shakespeare wrote The Tempest. The idea for the play came from the real-life shipwreck in 1609 of the Sea Venture, which was caught in a hurricane and grounded on the coast of Bermuda during a voyage to resupply England's troubled colony at Jamestown, in present-day Virginia. A lesser known passenger was Stephen Hopkins. During the 10 months the Sea Venture passengers were marooned on Bermuda, Hopkins was charged with trying to incite a mutiny and condemned to die, only to have his sentence commuted moments before it was to be carried out.
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This book makes history come alive
- By KQ on 02-23-21
By: Jonathan Mack
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Love and Hate in Jamestown
- John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of a New Nation
- By: David A. Price
- Narrated by: Josh Innerst
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on period letters and chronicles, and on the papers of the Virginia Company - which financed the settlement of Jamestown - David Price tells a tale of cowardice and courage, stupidity and brilliance, tragedy and costly triumph. He takes us into the day-to-day existence of the English men and women whose charge was to find gold and a route to the Orient, and who found, instead, hardship and wretched misery. Death, in fact, became the settlers' most faithful companion, and their infighting was ceaseless.
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Five Star History!
- By Damian on 08-13-23
By: David A. Price
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The Republic of Pirates
- Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down
- By: Colin Woodard
- Narrated by: Lewis Grenville
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early 18th century, the Pirate Republic was home to some of the great pirate captains, including Blackbeard, "Black Sam" Bellamy, and Charles Vane. Along with their fellow pirates - former sailors, indentured servants, and runaway slaves - this "Flying Gang" established a crude but distinctive democracy in the Bahamas, carving out their own zone of freedom in which servants were free, Blacks could be equal citizens, and leaders were chosen or deposed by a vote.
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Audible is better
- By CaptainRavick on 01-19-16
By: Colin Woodard
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Marooned
- Jamestown, Shipwreck, and a New History of America's Origin
- By: Joseph Kelly
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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We all know the great American origin story: It begins with an exodus. Fleeing religious persecution, the hardworking, pious Pilgrims thrived in the wilds of New England, where they built their fabled "shining city on a hill". Legend goes that the colony in Jamestown was a false start, offering a cautionary tale of lazy louts who hunted gold till they starved and shiftless settlers who had to be rescued by English food and the hard discipline of martial law.
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“Breath-y” narration bit great book
- By NBerg on 02-15-20
By: Joseph Kelly
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In Search of a Kingdom
- Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire
- By: Laurence Bergreen
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In this grand and thrilling narrative, the acclaimed biographer of Magellan, Columbus, and Marco Polo brings alive the singular life and adventures of Sir Francis Drake, the pirate/explorer/admiral whose mastery of the seas during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I changed the course of history.
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Better than the text
- By Bramante on 04-07-21
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Rebels at Sea
- Privateering in the American Revolution
- By: Eric Jay Dolin
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The heroic story of the founding of the US Navy during the Revolution has been told many times, yet largely missing from maritime histories of America's first war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation's character. In Rebels at Sea, Eric Jay Dolin corrects that significant omission, and contends that privateers, as they were called, were in fact critical to the American victory. Privateers were privately owned vessels that were granted permission by the new government to seize British merchantmen and men of war.
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If you can get over the narrator...
- By Toby Everett on 09-20-22
By: Eric Jay Dolin
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Blackbeard
- America's Most Notorious Pirate
- By: Angus Konstam
- Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Of all the colorful cutthroats who scoured the seas in search of plunder during the Golden Age of Piracy in the early 18th century, none was more ferocious or notorious than Blackbeard. As unforgettable as his savage career was, much of Blackbeard's life has been shrouded in mystery - until now. Drawing on vivid descriptions of Blackbeard's attacks from his rare surviving victims, pirate expert Angus Konstam traces Blackbeard's career from its beginnings to his final defeat in a tremendous sea battle near his base at Ocracoke Island
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It’s alright
- By B. Williams on 02-26-21
By: Angus Konstam
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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