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Tour to Hell: Convict Australia's Great Escape Myths
Through a combination of riveting tales of escape, exploration, and bushranging, this engaging account documents a little-known facet of Australian history as a penal colony, revealing some of the first, reluctant settlers’ misconceptions of the island. From the belief that China was a few days’ walk north of Sydney to the delusion that Timor was only a short distance overland, the document recalls the escape myths that ran rampant, disrupting the colony and leaving the authorities with little clue as to how to suppress them. A daring and desperate tale, the narrative also delves into the impact of these outrageous beliefs on the development of colonial Australia.
- GenresHistory
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 15, 2018
An interesting read about the early days of the penal colony and the myths that inspired convicts to brave the unknowns of the Australian wilderness to attempt escape.
October 14, 2008
It has its pros and cons, mostly pros as far as I'm concerned. I think it would be a good idea to have some knowledge of convict history and British colonial times before reading it, and maps and illustrations would be handy but that would make the book expensive; at AUS$34.95 it seems like a very reasonable price as it is.
Overall I like the tone of the book, there is some repetition that annoyed me slightly but there are some good turns of phrase and Levell gives good descriptions and evokes the setting of convict life (i.e. hell!) with compassion and humour.
There are 18 chapters, (my favourite title is 'The Hopeful Fraternity') an index, endnotes, bibliography and reference section.
The duplicitous Irish are at it again tsk tsk:
"Hunter saw Irish revolt all over the affair and unfairly blamed the 'lawless and turbulent' Irish for the complicity of the Englishmen in the escapes. Their baleful influence had 'completely ruined' the English convicts, he wrote, who, 'although extremely bad, were no means equal in infamy and turbulence to the other until mixed with them, which is impossible to avoid'"
Lost cow colony (4 cows 2 bulls):
"No one expected bovine bolters to travel as far as they did, or start a secret colony of their own"
Musing on the name of the Blue Mountains:
"...perhaps the horizons blue mountain wall reminded someone of those blue painted landscapes on China plates"
Overall I like the tone of the book, there is some repetition that annoyed me slightly but there are some good turns of phrase and Levell gives good descriptions and evokes the setting of convict life (i.e. hell!) with compassion and humour.
There are 18 chapters, (my favourite title is 'The Hopeful Fraternity') an index, endnotes, bibliography and reference section.
The duplicitous Irish are at it again tsk tsk:
"Hunter saw Irish revolt all over the affair and unfairly blamed the 'lawless and turbulent' Irish for the complicity of the Englishmen in the escapes. Their baleful influence had 'completely ruined' the English convicts, he wrote, who, 'although extremely bad, were no means equal in infamy and turbulence to the other until mixed with them, which is impossible to avoid'"
Lost cow colony (4 cows 2 bulls):
"No one expected bovine bolters to travel as far as they did, or start a secret colony of their own"
Musing on the name of the Blue Mountains:
"...perhaps the horizons blue mountain wall reminded someone of those blue painted landscapes on China plates"
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews