{"product_id":"2026200014285-secondhand-for-the-term-of-his-natural-life","title":"For The Term Of His Natural Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFew novels in the canon of Australian literature carry the raw moral weight of For the Term of His Natural Life, Marcus Clarke's monumental chronicle of convict suffering in the brutal penal colonies of nineteenth-century Australia. The story follows Rufus Dawes, an innocent man condemned to a living death in Van Diemen's Land, as he endures the systematic cruelty of a colonial system designed to break the human spirit — a world of chain gangs, floggings, and calculated degradation rendered with unflinching, documentary precision.\n\nClarke, writing in 1874, crafted a work of profound social conscience that stands as both a scathing indictment of the British penal system and an enduring meditation on justice, identity, and survival. His prose carries the authority of a witness, drawing on meticulous historical research to construct a narrative that is as harrowing as it is compulsively readable. This unabridged edition, presented as part of the Collector's Library of Australia's Great Books, restores Clarke's full, uncompromising vision — leaving the reader to question just how thin the line truly is between civilisation and savagery.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49161019949275,"sku":"2026200014285-SECONDHAND","price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/a1631fcb-4dac-46d5-b1ab-a56ab04671ea.png?v=1787189194","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200014285-secondhand-for-the-term-of-his-natural-life","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}