
Breakout!
The Tasmanians Who Terrorised Victoria
Robert Cox(Author)
Wakefield Press
Published on 21. October 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
326 pages
978-1-923042-72-8 (ISBN)
Description
The killers were Pevay and Timmy. In 1841 they slew two men and wounded others in an angry rampage through the Victorian countryside.
As Tasmanian Aborigines, they had many reasons to be angry.
When teenagers they'd been jailed for being black. They'd taken unwilling part in the ethnic cleansing of Tasmania. Forcedly interned in a bleak offshore gulag, they'd watched helplessly as friends and family died of disease and despair.
Then they were exiled to Victoria where colonists victimised them. It was the last straw. They stole guns and seized their freedom.
Their breakout was vengeful and violent. Farms were raided, settlers shot. Despite firefights and ambushes, they evaded pursuers for weeks before being captured in a blaze of gunfire.
Their murder trial was a farce. Public officials lied under oath. The judge was biased and inept. The verdict was a foregone conclusion.
Now, for the first time, their tragic story is told in full. From their perilous boyhood during Tasmania's Black War to their botched hanging in a crowded Melbourne street.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Kent Town
Australia
Illustrations
33 black-and-white images in a section, 2 maps
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
740 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-923042-72-8 (9781923042728)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Robert Cox's eight previous books include three volumes of short fiction and four of Tasmanian history. His most recent book, Broken Spear: the untold story of Black Tom Birch, the man who sparked Australia's bloodiest war, was longlisted for the 2024 Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History.