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Convict Workers: Reinterpreting Australia's Past (Studies in Australian History)

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Every Aussie knows that the first European settlers were involuntary. But in our history books, convicts are often a nameless bunch. What was life really like for them? The contributors to this book attempt to reach back into musty archives and reconstruct a bicentennial past.

Various aspects of convict life are treated. Including how female convicts fared in a society with far more men than women. For most convicts, conditions were often hard, especially in the early years, when starvation was a real threat.

However, in total, it was still better to be a convict than an African slave brought to the Americas. Convicts who served their sentences were freed and often prospered.