{"product_id":"9781743437766","title":"The Luck of the Irish: How a shipload of convicts survived the wreck of the Hive to make a new life in Australia","description":"The luck of the Irish was chronic bad luck, as their sad history attests. That's how it looked for 250 Irish convicts when their ship, the \u003ci\u003eHive\u003c\/i\u003e, sank ignominiously off the NSW coast in 1835. Miraculously all survived, guided to safety by local Aboriginal people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey landed at a time when the so-called slave colony was at its height, ruled by the lash and the chain gang. Yet as Babette Smith tracked the lives of the people aboard the \u003ci\u003eHive\u003c\/i\u003e, she discovered a very different story. Most were assigned to work on farms or in businesses, building a better life than they possibly could have experienced in Ireland. Surprisingly, in the workforce they found power, which gave rise to the characteristic Australian culture later described by DH Lawrence: 'Nobody felt better than anybody else, or higher.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Luck of the Irish\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating portrait of colonial life in the mid-19th century, which reveals how the Irish helped lay the foundations of the Australia we know today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Deeply researched and vividly written, it's a terrific new and up-to-date account of the convict experience, mainly from the bottom up' - \u003ci\u003eEmeritus Professor Alan Atkinson FAHA, University of Sydney\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Brings the convict era to life through personal stories and insightful analysis.' - \u003ci\u003eLindsay Tanner\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Pty., Limited","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47136773701872,"sku":"9781743437766","price":27.26,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781743437766_p0.jpg?v=1763706249","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781743437766","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}