Reviews for A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia

The average rating for A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-10-02 00:00:00 Wendy Templeton This was a great read--so well-researched that Kenneally isable to skillfully characterize the diarists he used, and this brought the history to life. I loved the way he switched perspectives from the Europeans to the Eora/Aboriginal peoples. I felt he represented the latter's view intelligently and compassionately without painting the Europeans as complete or constant villains. More of a tragedy. My main criticism of the book is that it doesn't have a decisive conclusion. The colony limps along, people are starving, it's hard to grow crops, people are starving... and then... tada! The End, Epilogue, Look what happened to these Europeans' descendants! I didn't feel I understood what happened or why to make the colony a success, when at so many points, they were months or weeks away from a pile of bleached bones and some ruined buildings on the shore.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-10-14 00:00:00 Kiwiz Jack This is a highly personal, intimate kind of history book, concerned very heavily with the stories of many real individuals. These people's crimes, sufferings, hopes, tragedies and victories are given with honest sympathy and impressive detail. There is equal regard for the female and male prisoners, the officers, the Aboriginals, the children and the sailors. It's a moving account of a time when savage punishments were deemed an inescapable necessity, and it could seem miraculous that mercy found a way.