The Timeless Land [The Timeless Land Trilogy, Book One]. Paperback - 2002

Sydney, Australia HarperCollins Publishers A&R Classics, 2002. Paperback First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. Near Fine in Wraps: shows only very minor indications of use: light wear to the extremities; the pages have tanned a bit, due to aging The Binding is uncreased, square, and secure; text clean. Very close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 525pp. Trade Paperback. This is a richly colorful story of the first five years of English settlement in Australia, and of the black people whose life and culture and natural gaiety were so cruelly destroyed in that short time. The story is a dramatic one, eloquently told. The few boatloads of convicts who land in Sydney Harbor in 1788 make poor pioneer stock indeed. That they survive at all is due to the courage and wisdom of their Captain Phillips. His story is told here as is that of a fictional character, Andrew prentice, a red-headed convict who escapes, takes a native wife, and flourishes with her in the wilds while his fellow English back at the settlement are near starvation. Parallel to the slow establishment of the white colony runs the sad history of the black men's demoralization, personified in Bellilong, an historical figure and a leader in his tribe, who develops a fatal friendliness toward the English. A visit to London completes his undoing, and symbolizes the coming degeneracy of his whole race. An excellent story and fresh background make this Mrs. Dark's most ambitious and important novel.