It was meant to be ‘Victoria the Free’, uncontaminated by the Convict Stain. Yet they came in their tens of thousands as soon as they were cut free or able to bolt. More than half of all those transported to Van Diemen’s Land as convicts would one day settle or spend time in Victoria. There they were demonised as Vandemonians. Some could never go straight; a few were the luckiest of gold diggers; a handful founded families with distinguished descendants. Most slipped into obscurity. Burdened by their pasts and their shame, their lives as free men and women, even within their own families, were forever shrouded in secrets and lies. Only now are we discovering their stories and Victoria’s place in the nation’s convict history. As Janet McCalman examines this transported population of men, women and children from the cradle to the grave, we can see them not just as prisoners, but as children, young people, workers, mothers, fathers and colonists. From the author of Struggletown and Journeyings, this rich study of the lives of unwilling colonisers is an original and confronting new history of our convict past—the repressed history of colonial Victoria.

Set in the mid-nineteenth century, Legacy of Van Diemen’s Land is the latest installment in the ‘Heart of Stone’ saga. The story follows the lives of the Stone and Dryer families, focussing on the children of Violet, fathered by Richard Dryer and Matthew Stone – the protagonists from the previous books in the series, Brandy Row and Dawn to Deadly Nightshade. Legacy of Van Diemen’s Land follows the travels of the Machiavellian character, Nathan Meakins, as he is transported to the antipodes to suffer the hardships of the colonial penal system. Hated and feared in equal measure by his fellow prisoners, it appears as though the evil and devious Nathan has finally got his comeuppance. But his threat to reap revenge on his adversary, Joshua Dryer, brings fear to all who live at the Manor of Alvington. In Nathan’s determination to return to Somerset and settle the score, innocent people become embroiled in his wicked plans and are left to suffer the tragic consequences... Inspired by authors such as Thomas Hardy, George Elliott and Charlotte Bronte, Legacy of Van Diemen’s Land introduces a colourful group of characters. A tale of tragedy, heartache, celebration and tradition, told through the beautiful local and social history of both Portland and Yeovil, this book will appeal to fans of Shelagh Mazey’s previous books, as well as readers who enjoy historical and romance fiction.

Britain formally colonised Van Diemen’s Land in the early years of the nineteenth century. Small convict stations grew into towns. Pastoralists moved in to the aboriginal hunting grounds. There was conflict, there was violence. But, governments and gentlemen succeeded in burying the real story of the Vandemonian War for nearly two centuries. The Vandemonian War had many sides and shades, but it was fundamentally a war between the British colony of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) and those Tribespeople who lived in political and social contradiction to that colony. In The Vandemonian War acclaimed history author Nick Brodie now exposes the largely untold story of how the British truly occupied Van Diemen’s Land deploying regimental soldiers and special forces, armed convicts and mercenaries. In the 1820s and 1830s the British deliberately pushed the Tribespeople out, driving them to the edge of existence. Far from localised fights between farmers and hunters of popular memory, this was a war of sweeping campaigns and brutal tactics, waged by military and paramilitary forces subject to a Lieutenant Governor who was also Colonel Commanding. The British won the Vandemonian War and then discretely and purposefully concealed it. Historians failed to see through the myths and lies – until now. It is no exaggeration to say that the Tribespeople of Van Diemen’s Land were extirpated from the island. Whole societies were deliberately obliterated. The Vandemonian War was one of the darkest stains on a former empire which arrogantly claimed perpetual sunshine. This is the story of that fight, redrawn from neglected handwriting nearly two centuries old.

To the convicts arriving in Van Diemen's Land' it must have felt as though they'd been sent to the very ends of the earth. In Tasmania's Convicts Alison Alexander tells the history of the men and women transported to what became one of Britain's most notorious convict colonies. Following the lives of dozens of convicts and their families' she uncovers stories of success' failure' and everything in between. While some suffered harsh conditions' most served their time and were freed' becoming ordinary and peaceful citizens. Yet over the decades' a terrible stigma became associated with the convicts' and they and the whole colony went to extraordinary lengths to hide it. The majority of Tasmanians today have convict ancestry' whether they know it or not. While the public stigma of its convict past has given way to a contemporary fascination with colonial history' Alison Alexander debates whether the convict past lingers deep in the psyche of white Tasmania.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • This incredible true history of the colonization of Australia explores how the convict transportation system created the country we know today. "One of the greatest non-fiction books I’ve ever read ... Hughes brings us an entire world." —Los Angeles Times Digging deep into the dark history of England's infamous efforts to move 160,000 men and women thousands of miles to the other side of the world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Hughes has crafted a groundbreaking, definitive account of the settling of Australia. Tracing the European presence in Australia from early explorations through the rise and fall of the penal colonies, and featuring 16 pages of illustrations and 3 maps, The Fatal Shore brings to life the history of the country we thought we knew.

With a twist of fate - and of historical fact - Gallipoli was a military success, Australia had a female prime minister in the 1920s and Gough Whitlam chose his time to retire from the top job. In Victory on Gallipoli and Other What-ifs of Australian History, prominent historians contemplate how Australia today could have been a very different place but for a decision made or not made, an opportunity taken or not taken. These are the nation's sliding door moments, our alternative history. The Cold War had the world teetering on the edge of mutually assured destruction. What if it had heated up? What if the 1951 referendum to outlaw the Communist Party had been successful? Would Australia have had its own McCarthy era and where would we be today? With essays by Janette Bomford, Guy Hansen, Carolyn Holbrook, Walter Kudrycz, Michael McKernan, Ross McMullin, Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, John Maynard, Michael Molkentin, Roslyn Russell, Peter Stanley, Craig Wilcox and Clare Wright.

This is a contemporary legal history book for Australian law students, written in an engaging style and rich with learning features and illustrations. The writers are a unique combination of talents, bringing together their fields of research and teaching in Australian history, British constitutional history and modern Australian law. The first part provides the social and political contexts for legal history in medieval and early modern England and America, explaining the English law which came to Australia in 1788. This includes: The origins of the common law The growth of the legal profession The making of the Magna Carta The English Civil Wars The Bill of Rights The American War of Independence. The second part examines the development of the law in Australia to the present day, including: The English criminal justice system and convict transportation The role of the Privy Council in 19th century Indigenous Australia in the colonial period The federation movement Constitutional Independence The 1967 Australian referendum and the land rights movement. The comprehensive coverage of several centuries is balanced by a dynamic writing style and tools to guide the student through each chapter including learning outcomes, chapter outlines and discussion points. The historical analysis is brought to life by the use of primary documentary evidence such as charters, statutes, medieval source books and Coke's reports, and a series of historical cameos - focused studies of notable people and issues from King Edward I and Edward Coke to Henry Parkes and Eddie Mabo - and constitutional detours addressing topics such as the separation of powers, judicial review and federalism. A Legal History for Australia is an engaging textbook, cogently written and imaginatively resourced and is supported by a companion website: https://www.bloomsburyonlineresources.com/a-legal-history-for-australia