Before rushing out to spend $34.95 on David Hill's book 1788, The Brutal Truth about the First Fleet, it would be advisable to read the review of the book by Cassandra Pybus in The Australian Literary Review of October 1st 2008. According to this review, you may find that the book contains banal reductions, serious errors and that David Hill doesn't say anything about the First Fleet that one couldn't find in numerous other foundation accounts. William Heinemann is producing a flawed book only a couple of years after publishing Tom Keneally's 'A Commonwealth of Thieves' and it is suggested that Robert Hughes's 'The Fatal Shore' and Sian Rees's 'The Floating Brothel' are informed by the best scholarship and push the reader beyond what they may have learned at school. Best wishes, David W Tattersall.

The thing about book reviews is that they are only one persons opinion, and people all by themselves are discerning enough to decide whether a book has value or not. Jenny Fawcett ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Tattersall" <davidtattersall@westnet.com.au> To: "Aus Convicts" <aus-convicts@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 10:30 PM Subject: [AUS-CON] New Book about the First Fleet > Before rushing out to spend $34.95 on David Hill's book 1788, The > Brutal Truth about the First Fleet, it would be advisable to read the > review of the book by Cassandra Pybus in The Australian Literary > Review of October 1st 2008. > > According to this review, you may find that the book contains banal > reductions, serious errors and that David Hill doesn't say anything > about the First Fleet that one couldn't find in numerous other > foundation accounts. > > William Heinemann is producing a flawed book only a couple of years > after publishing Tom Keneally's 'A Commonwealth of Thieves' and it is > suggested that Robert Hughes's 'The Fatal Shore' and Sian Rees's 'The > Floating Brothel' are informed by the best scholarship and push the > reader beyond what they may have learned at school. > > Best wishes, David W Tattersall. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-CONVICTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >