English Passengers - Matthew Kneale

From the back cover:  It is 1857 and the Reverend Geoffrey Wilson has set out for Tasmania hoping to find the true site of the Garden of Eden.  But the journey is turning out to be less straightforward - dissent is growing between him and sinister racial-theorist Dr. Potter, and, unknown to both, the ship they have hurriedly charted is in fact a Manx smuggling vessel, fleeing British Customs.  In Tasmania the aboriginal people have been fighting a desperate battle against British invaders, and, as the passengers will discover, the island is now far from being an earthly paradise...

I got this one cheaply from a second-hand book store.  It was one of those books I get that looks mildly amusing so that when I run out of books I'm really interested in reading I don't find myself bookless. This book is fun, filled with lots of interesting (and most of them rather un-likeable) characters.  I'm no history expert but the stories seemed rather 'authentic' to me.  The reverend and the doctor were enjoyably hate-able, the Capitan and his Manx crew had a roguish charm and the plight of the native Tasmanians provoked feelings of injustice.  I like a book that doesn't get too caught up in long-winded descriptions of things but still gives enough to paint the picture.  I think this book did a good job of this and the story continues along at a good pace throughout the whole book, even when switching back and forth between the points of view of the many characters.  The ending was surprising, but in a good way.  Definitely $3.50 well spent.