By Colin Heston (Author), James Tucker (Author), Ralph Rashleigh (Contributor)

This compelling narrative offers a vivid portrayal of the convict experience in early colonial Australia. The book, first published in 1929, is attributed to James Tucker, who wrote under the pseudonym Ralph Rashleigh. This introduction by Colin Heston aims to provide an overview of the book’s themes, historical context, and its significance in Australian literature. The story is set during a tumultuous period in Australian history when the continent was used as a penal colony by the British Empire. From 1788 to 1868, over 160,000 convicts were transported to Australia, fundamentally shaping the social and cultural landscape of the emerging nation. “Adventures of an Outlaw” provides a firsthand account of this era, detailing the harsh realities faced by convicts and the brutal conditions of the penal system. James Tucker, the presumed author, was himself a convict transported to Australia for forgery. His experiences and observations lend authenticity to the narrative, making it a valuable historical document. The book offers insights into the daily lives of convicts, their interactions with authorities, and their struggles for survival and dignity in an unforgiving environment. This abridged edition simplifies the narrative and corrects the many quaint spellings and expressions while keeping the essential facts and challenging experiences that challenged Rasjleigh's resilience and determination to find freedom.

First published in 1929 by Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith1. The memoir, attributed to the pseudonym Ralph Rashleigh, is actually the work of James Rosenberg Tucker. This abridged edition Read-Me.Org Inc. 2025. 105p.

By Charles Dickens

From the Preface: “The late Mr Waterton having, some time ago, expressed his opinion that ravens are gradually becoming extinct in England, I offered the few following words about my experience of these birds. The raven in this story is a compound of two great originals, of whom I was, at different times, the proud possessor. The first was in the bloom of his youth, when he was discovered in a modest retirement in London, by a friend of mine, and given to me. He had from the first, as Sir Hugh Evans says of Anne Page, ‘good gifts’, which he improved by study and attention in a most exemplary manner. He slept in a stable—generally on horseback —and so terrified a Newfoundland dog by his preternatural sagacity, that he has been known, by the mere superiority of his genius, to walk off unmolested with the dog’s dinner, from before his face…”

London Chapmwn Hall. 1870. 770p

From the Cover: In this, his most famous book, Genet charts his progress through Europe and the 1930s in rags, hunger, contempt, fatigue and vice. Spain, Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Nazi Germany, Belgium . . . everywhere the pattern is the same: bars, dives, flop-houses; robbery, prison and expulsion. This is a voyage of discovery beyond all moral laws; the expression of a philosophy of perverted vice, the working out of an aesthetic of degradation. The cover shows 'Head on Stand' (1947)b y Alberto Giacometti, in the Maeght Collection.

London. Penguin Classics. 1950s? THIS BOOK CONTAINS MARK-UP

By Emile Gaboriau

Illustrated by W. Glackens. From Chapter 1: In the Paris evening papers of Tuesday, February 28, 1866, under the head of Local Items, the following announcement appeared: " A daring robbery, committed against one of our most eminent bankers, M. André Fauvel, caused great excitement this morning throughout the neighborhood of Rue de Provence. " The thieves, who were as skilful as they were bold, succeeded in making an entrance to the bank, in forcing the lock of a safe that has heretofore been considered impregnable, and in possessing themselves of the enormous sum of three hundred and fifty thousand francs in bank-notes…”

NY. Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1903. 540p.

By Charles Dickens..

This is a rare detective story of Charles Dickens. The main character is a smart and attentive man named Sampson. One day he sees a strange Mr. Julius Silton in his office acting strangely as though he is hiding something. Sampson suspects that a crime is occurring and and from this point he becomes a real hunter of criminals. The story's antagonist is probably based on the real life of poisoner Thomas Wainewright.

NY. Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1859) 39 pages.