For many of the convicts sent to Australian penal settlements in the nineteeth century, the choice was simple: a life of misery or death. The prison settlements were some of the most brutal places in the world, and many of the commandants who ran them were sadistic tyrants. Only a few of those in charge dared to try a more humane approach. Alan Tucker's unflinching depiction of one of the darkest sides to Australia's history raises many questions about crime and punishment, and the use and abuse of power.