This is the forty-six years in which Australia evolved from a ramshackle penal colony into a substantial colonial presence, from the visionary Macquarie era to the beginning of the end of convict transportation. This book covers all the major events from Macquarie's first days when corruption was steadily brought under control, the development of substantial infrastructure, the breaking down of class structures, widespread exploration and land settlement, the creation of South Australia, Port Phillip and Western Australia, and the heroic battles to end convict transportation.