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 <i>Hive</i>, sank ignominiously off the NSW coast in 1835. Miraculously all survived, guided to safety by local Aboriginal people.<br/><br/>They 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 <i>Hive</i>, 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.'<br/><br/><i>The Luck of the Irish</i> 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.<br/><br/>'Deeply researched and vividly written, it's a terrific new and up - to - date account of the convict experience, mainly from the bottom up' - <i>Emeritus Professor Alan Atkinson FAHA, University of Sydney</i><br/><br/>'Brings the convict era to life through personal stories and insightful analysis.' - <i>Lindsay Tanner</i>