This book focuses on the men of the convict transport Eleanor, who arrived in NSW in 1831. They were all from the counties of Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire and were transported for their part in the Swing riots-the great agricultural protest of 1830-31. This episode spread across much of southern England and has been called the last peasants" revolt, led to more than 480 people being sent to Australia ("the largest single group in the history of transportation") (George Rude).