Convicts and the Colonies

This classic text presents a close look at the transportation system and sets it in its proper place as one of various modes of punishment used in the English penal system. Australia was not the only colony to which British statesmen wanted to send their felons, and the author discusses projects of transportation to the American colonies and South Africa, throwing light on the 'choice of Botany Bay'. His discussion of the character of the convicts settles many of the longstanding arguments about the criminality of Australia's founders by subjecting their records to rigorous scrutiny.