Amazon.com An extraordinary volume--even a masterpiece--about the early history of Australia that reads like the finest of novels. Hughes captures everything in this complex tableau with narrative finesse that drives the reader ever-deeper into specific facts and greater understanding. He presents compassionate understanding of the plights of colonists--both freemen and convicts--and the Aboriginal peoples they displaced. One of the very best works of history I have ever read. From Library Journal For 80 years between 1788 and 1868 England transported its convicts to Australia. This punishment provided the first immigrants and the work force to build the colony. Using diaries， letters， and original sources， Hughes meticulously documents this history. All sides of the story are told: the political and social reasoning behind the Transportation System， the viewpoint of the captains who had the difficult job of governing and developing the colonies， and of course the dilemma of the prisoners. This is a very thorough and accurate history of Australian colonization written by the author of the book and BBC/Time-Life TV series The Shock of the New . A definitive work that is an essential purchase for both public and academic libraries. BOMC and History Book Club main selections. Judith Nixon， Purdue Univ. Libs.， W. Lafayette， Ind.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews

关于作者：

罗伯特•休斯，著名澳大利亚艺术评论家、历史学家，被英国《卫报》艺术评论人乔纳森·琼斯称为“我们时代最伟大的艺术批评家”。 代表作有《新艺术的震撼》、《绝对批评》等。

关于译者：

欧阳昱，湖北黄州人，1955年生。黄冈中学毕业，上海华东师大英澳文学硕士（1986－1989），曾任教武汉大学（1989－1991），1995年获得墨尔本La Trobe大学澳洲文学博士，中英文双语作家、诗人、翻译家、《原乡》文学杂志主编。截至2013年9月，已出版中英文著译71种（含译著36部）。英文创作多次获奖。中文诗歌两次入选中国最佳诗歌选。英文诗歌自2004年至2011年，七次连续入选澳大利亚最佳诗歌选。英译当代中国诗歌入选2012年澳大利亚最佳诗歌选。

2011年被评为Top 100 Melbournians of 2011（2011年度百名顶级墨尔本人）。2012年被编辑部设在纽约的中文杂志《明镜》月刊评选为十大最有影响力的海外华人作家之一。

曾为武汉大学英文系讲座教授（2005－2008）和南京大学比较文学与比较文学研究所兼职教授（2005-2010）。

欧阳昱现为上海对外经贸大学“思源”学者兼讲座教授。