Perilous Voyages To The New Land
By Michael Cannon
Published by Todays Australia Publishing Company: Mornington 1997 1st Hardcover Edition
A Nice, Clean Copy With Dustjacket In Very Good Condition Overall
"Perilous Voyages To The New Land is a compelling work of Australian social history in which noted historian Michael Cannon reconstructs the often-forgotten experiences of immigrant families who undertook the hazardous voyage from Britain and Ireland to Australia during the great migration years of the 1840s and 1850s. Drawing upon diaries, letters, official reports and contemporary accounts, Cannon reveals the realities hidden behind the promise of a better life, chronicling the hopes, fears and extraordinary resilience of those who crossed the world in crowded sailing ships to begin anew in an unfamiliar land.
Far from romanticising the journey, Cannon explores the hardships endured at sea, including violent storms, disease, malnutrition, poor sanitation and the incompetence of some shipmasters. The book gives particular attention to the emigrant experience aboard vessels carrying working-class families, Irish famine refugees and young orphan girls, presenting vivid first-hand accounts that bring these long voyages to life. Through these personal stories, readers gain a deeper understanding of the sacrifices made by the men, women and children who helped populate colonial Australia.
Beautifully illustrated and thoroughly researched, this revised and expanded 1997 first hardcover edition remains one of Cannon's most engaging studies of Australia's migration history. Rich in contemporary illustrations and supported by documentary appendices, bibliography and index, it offers an absorbing account of the perilous sea journeys that shaped the nation's early development. A highly desirable volume for collectors of Australiana, maritime history and Australian family history, presented here in clean condition with its original dustjacket."
