Freedom on the Fatal Shore brings together John Hirst’s celebrated works on the early history of New South Wales: Convict Society and Its Enemies, first published in 1983, and Strange Birth of Colonial Democracy, published in 1988. Both books have been out of print for some time; the chance of picking up a second-hand copy is almost nil. Black Inc. has done historians, students and general readers a great service with this combined volume. Convict Society and Strange Birth have an intellectual symmetry that justifies their union.

Hirst has described himself as a ‘controversialist cum historian’. The controversialist is evident in his hard-hitting journalism, which is usually aimed at the opinions of the left-liberal intelligentsia, whose thinking on political matters he finds mushy and irresponsible. The left-liberal intelligentsia replies in kind, insisting that Hirst’s politics can be so pragmatic – usually in defence of the nation’s apparently fragile coherence – as to be heartless or amoral. His defence of Tampa and condemnation of the Mabo judgment come to mind. Hirst is much more than a gadfly. He is a public intellectual with a clarity, conciseness, and sharpness that few can match. He keeps his colleagues on their toes.