Great Convict Escapes in Colonial Australia

This revised edition includes four exciting new tales of escape.

In Colonial times, Australia was considered the perfect prison – a place where impenetrable bush and wide oceans would be a greater barrier to escape than any prison walls.

But hundreds of convicts did escape. Most were recaptured, perished in the bush or returned half-starved from the wilderness to face whatever punishment awaited them. Others survived by living with the Aborigines or by becoming bushrangers. Some found their way to distant ports in the Pacific, Asia and South America. A handful even made it all the way back home.

This book is a collection of tales of adventure and daring that equals any in fiction:
– The tale of John Graham who lived with the Aborigines, became an expert tracker and was responsible for rescuing Eliza Fraser.
– The story of Mary Bryant who, with her two young children, completed a voyage of nearly 5,000 kilometres in an open boat from Sydney to Timor.
– The terrifying tale of Alexander Pearce who survived a gruelling walk across Tasmania by eating his companions one by one.

Whether they are villains or heroes, the characters in this book prove that men and women kept in chains will risk almost anything in the pursuit of “glorious liberty”.