Punishment And Profit: The Reports Of Commissioner John Bigge On The Colonies Of New South Wales And Van Diemen's Land, 1822-1823; Their Origins, Nature And Significance
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
In the turbulent early decades of European settlement in Australia, one man was dispatched to investigate the colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land — and his findings would shape the fate of thousands. Punishment and Profit chronicles the landmark inquiry conducted by Commissioner John Bigge between 1822 and 1823, dissecting the origins, methodology, and far-reaching consequences of his reports on the penal and economic foundations of colonial Australia. John Ritchie presents a meticulously researched account that cuts to the heart of how punishment and profit were inextricably intertwined in the governance of Britain's antipodean outposts, revealing the ideological battles between governors, free settlers, emancipists, and imperial administrators that defined this critical era. Ritchie's scholarly yet accessible prose illuminates the broader tensions between humanitarian reform and the ruthless pragmatism of colonial expansion, arguing that Bigge's reports were far more than bureaucratic documents — they were instruments of power that entrenched convict labour as the economic engine of a nascent society. Drawing on primary sources and official records, this work stands as an essential contribution to the study of Australian colonial history, casting a sharp light on the moral contradictions at the foundation of a nation. For anyone seeking to understand how Australia's earliest institutions were forged in the crucible of empire, this volume raises questions that resonate long after the final page.
Author: John Ritchie
Format: Hardback
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
In the turbulent early decades of European settlement in Australia, one man was dispatched to investigate the colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land — and his findings would shape the fate of thousands. Punishment and Profit chronicles the landmark inquiry conducted by Commissioner John Bigge between 1822 and 1823, dissecting the origins, methodology, and far-reaching consequences of his reports on the penal and economic foundations of colonial Australia. John Ritchie presents a meticulously researched account that cuts to the heart of how punishment and profit were inextricably intertwined in the governance of Britain's antipodean outposts, revealing the ideological battles between governors, free settlers, emancipists, and imperial administrators that defined this critical era. Ritchie's scholarly yet accessible prose illuminates the broader tensions between humanitarian reform and the ruthless pragmatism of colonial expansion, arguing that Bigge's reports were far more than bureaucratic documents — they were instruments of power that entrenched convict labour as the economic engine of a nascent society. Drawing on primary sources and official records, this work stands as an essential contribution to the study of Australian colonial history, casting a sharp light on the moral contradictions at the foundation of a nation. For anyone seeking to understand how Australia's earliest institutions were forged in the crucible of empire, this volume raises questions that resonate long after the final page.