In 1789 the British government accepted the low tender of a slave trading company to transport a second wave of convicts to the new penal colony at Sydney. These ships, intended to relieve the near-starving colonists of the First Fleet, brought a cargo of sick and dying convicts. 40% of them died.

The Second Fleet: Britain's Grim Convict Armada on 1790 is the first historical work to tell the story of this fleet, setting it against the background of early Australian history. It includes biographies of more than 1500 convicts (men and women), seamen, soldiers, officials, wives and children who sailed with 'The Death Fleet'. They ranged in age from 9 months to 68 years, and included the women of the ship 'Lady Juliana', the 'floating brothel'. Many of the survivors have descendants living today. Their stories provide a fascinating view of the criminal, social and local history of Georgian England and the embryonic culture, accent and character of early colonial Australia.
Based on the author's: Thesis (M.A.)--University of Sydney, 1992. The book is a masterpiece with the most painstaking attention to historical detail, accuracy and fairness -- Justice Michael Kirby, Australian Law Journal.
Bibliography: p. 741-744.