Book Review--The Fatal Shore

I'm just going to come right out and say it: I'm a nerd and I'm a little bit weird. I am. I find one snippet of information interesting and then I have to find out everything I can about it. I've spent hours doing research on random pieces of information so that I can gain a good understanding when there's really no need except my own curiosity.

That being said, at one point I decided I needed to research the treatment of the Australian Aborigines during Australia's founding because of some sentence I came across while doing research for an American art history class.

I told you.

Anyway, while I was researching THAT I learned about this book "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes, which chronicles the colonization of Australia.

Wow! I can't imagine a deeper investigation and history of the beginnings of a country than this one. So many interesting and terrible things went on during this time period and I can only imagine that Hughes touched on them all. The book was incredibly thorough; detailing everything from poverty in England in the 18th century to the harsh conditions of the Australian outback.

Hughes offers a complete picture of the circumstances surrounding the establishment of Australia as a penal colony and its trek into freedom. I would recommend it to anyone who has a deep interest in history.