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Death or Liberty: Rebels and Radicals Transported to Australia - 1788-1868 (Journal)
Death or Liberty Rebels and Radicals Transported to Australia 17881868 - Journal Author:Tony Moore "Death or Liberty" reveals how the British Government of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries banished to the end of the earth - Australia - political enemies viewed by authorities with the same alarm as today's 'terrorists': Jacobins, democrats and republicans, machine breakers, food rioters, trade unionists, and Chartists, Irish, Scots, Can... more »adian and even American rebels. While criminals in the eyes of the law, many of these prisoners were heroes and martyrs to their own communities, and are still revered in their homelands as freedom fighters and patriots, progressive thinkers, democrats and reformers. Yet in Australia, the land of their exile, memory of these rebels and their causes has dimmed. This is the first narrative history that brings together the stories of the political prisoners sent as convicts to Australia from all parts of the British Empire, spanning the early days of the penal settlement at Sydney Cove until transportation ended in 1868. Author Tony Moore asks who were these prisoners, and what led them to take the radical actions they did? Why did the authorities so fear these dissenters and rebels, and was transportation effective in halting dissent? What became of the political convicts in Australia and who escaped or returned home? Most crucially, what influence did these political activists in exile have on colonial life and politics, from the Castle Hill Rebellion to trade unionism and the early appearance of responsible and democratic government. In our contemporary climate where laws are being tightened to curtail dissent in the interests of national security, "Death or Liberty" seeks to raise questions about the violence of both the state and its opponents, the causes of zeal, ruthlessness and idealism, and to reveal the crucial place of hope, courage and conviction in human progress. Key points: solid historical research, focusing on socio-political history in the period of 1788-1868; beautiful and evocative design that captures the period content; and, highly illustrated with reproductions of historic paintings and engravings.« less