To the Outskirts of Habitable Creation

With the failure of each attempt to cross into Canada and revive the Rebellion, combatants were taken into custody. Trials resulted in hangings, acquittals, or pardons. One group of ninety-two prisoners, however, was sentenced to penal transportation for life in Australia's far distant island of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).

Drawing on a wide variety of letters, diaries, and personal reminiscences, the author tells the story through the experiences of the men and women who lived it. A minor "epic," "To the Outskirts..." is more than the story of the Rebellion of 1837. It is a vivid portrait of life in the Canadian-American borderland as well as in England and Australia during the second quarter of the nineteenth century.