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Colleen McCullough
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Morgan's Run Paperback – Jan. 1 2002

by Colleen McCullough (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,387 ratings
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Colleen McCullough captivated millions with her beloved worldwide bestseller The Thorn Birds. Now she takes readers to the birth of modern Australia with a breath-taking saga brimming with drama, history, and passion.
It was one of the greatest human experiments ever undertaken: to populate an unknown continent with the criminals of English society. For Richard Morgan, twelve months as a prisoner on the high seas would be just the beginning in a soul-trying test to survive in a hostile new land where, against all odds, he would find a new love and a new life. From the dank cells of England's prisons to the unforgiving frontier of the eighteenth-century outback, Morgan's Run is the epic tale of one man whose strength and character helped settle a country and define its future.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    848 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Pocket Books
  4. Publication date
    Jan. 1 2002
  5. Dimensions
    10.8 x 3.81 x 17.15 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0671024183
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0671024185
  8. See all details
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Product description

Review

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) Riveting.

The Washington Post McCullough really shines.

People Compelling....A stirring saga.

About the Author

Colleen McCullough, a native of Australia, established the department of neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney before working as a researcher at Yale Medical School for ten years. She is the bestselling author of numerous novels, including The Thorn Birds, and lives with her husband on Norfolk Island in the South Pacific.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pocket Books; Reprint edition (Jan. 1 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 848 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0671024183
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0671024185
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 386 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 10.8 x 3.81 x 17.15 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,387 ratings

About the author

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Colleen McCullough

Colleen McCullough

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Colleen McCullough was born in Australia. A neuropathologist, she established the department of neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney before working as a researcher and teacher at Yale Medical School for ten years. Her writing career began with the publication of Tim, followed by The Thorn Birds, a record-breaking international bestseller. She lives on Norfolk Island in the South Pacific with her husband, Ric Robinson.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
2,387 global ratings

Top reviews from Canada

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5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable historical fiction
Reviewed in Canada on February 2, 2024
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Pleasure
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Stephen A. Haines
4.0 out of 5 stars How to build a new world . . .
Reviewed in Canada on August 27, 2001
Richard Morgan, a Bristol publican's son and Jack-of-many-trades, is caught up in the devious machinations of the British class system. In circumstances exacerbated by economic disruption caused by the American War of Independence, he's convicted of a contrived crime. After spending time in British prisons and hulk ships, he's transported to New South Wales to complete his seven year sentence. Morgan is a gifted survivor. Closed upon himself, he maintains a precarious balance between despair and fatalistic acceptance. It's a narrow path, but he manages it successfully. With close attention to details, McCullough uses Richard's tortuous path to display her research into everything from the details of building the famous British "Brown Bess" musket through convict and guard relations. Morgan's trials and incarcerations give McCullough the canvas to portray the Georgian justice system. It's not a pretty picture, but his prosecution and detentions give the author time to build Morgan's emerging character. The loss of two children and a wife might have left a better man hopelessly melancholic, but McCullough uses the pieces of his shattered life to forge a new, stronger being. With the support received from uncles and unexpected friends, he emerges as an unwilling leader among the convicts. His abilities are recognized in the convict ships and settlements, places where artisans were at a premium. After time in Port Jackson [Sydney], he's sent to Norfolk Island where he truly blossoms. Given Norfolk Island's reputation as a convict hell-hole, this came as something of a surprise. Building on his artisan talents, Morgan's role takes a departure, becoming respected among convicts and marine guards alike. In sum, she paints the image of this man too boldly. His stature stands far above lesser mortals in surroundings where such prominence is unlikely. Many years after this story a debate raged in New South Wales over the status of redeemed convicts. No trace of that issue arises with Morgan, who, as a free man assumes a place in Norfolk society with amazing ease. He establishes a property straddling a stream - Morgan's Run. Writing historical fiction presents numerous problems. To establish firm credibility, there must be a realistic mixing real and fictional characters. Today's writers on the early days of Australia as a convict colony tend to elevate their characters above the normal run of society. They're uniformly innocent or dupes. Just once, i'd like to see a portrayal of a real villain transported to Port Jackson. McCullough follows the path set by many good historical novelists - a treasury of research transcribed into a wealth of information. In unskilled hands, such abundance can overwhelm the reader, erode the characters and subdue the plot line. McCullough is anything but unskilled, but in this book her story line is timid and the characters only short of stereotyped. Also, her Australian roots led her away from the consensus view of most writing on the convict colony. Not one of the felons expresses a strong desire to return to Britain. The novelty of the land is expressed clearly, but the homesickness most writers convey is lacking here. It's not even fatalism, just indifference. McCullough is a good read and anyone unfamiliar with the circumstances involved with the transportation of convicts will learn much from this book. As the first volume in a series, it's clear her research will bring forth new and entertaining circumstances. Morgan, only forty years of age at the end of this volume, will certainly find new fields to conquer. I look forward to the sequel, more for its information than from any interest in Morgan, who's bigger than life already.
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Freda Gordon
5.0 out of 5 stars Morgan’s Run.
Reviewed in Canada on January 19, 2024
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I found this book a little too long but I enjoyed it.
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Ian Dougal Cowie
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2024
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Fictional History
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diane snow
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story
Reviewed in Canada on January 11, 2024
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As usual Colleen Mcullough's books are great reads! I can't wait for the next one.
One person found this helpful
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K. Freeman
3.0 out of 5 stars Morgan's Run
Reviewed in Canada on March 21, 2002
This book will appeal to readers who like a slow pace, an epic scope, and long passages of detailed exposition. I am not such a reader.
Morgan's Run is the story of Richard Morgan, who begins his career in Bristol, ends up in prison, and is sent on a ship to help found a convict colony on an island off Australia. I read the book partly because of the claims of one professional reviewer that the book was largely about gunsmithing, the Brown Bess musket (and, I was hoping, associated tactics). It's not. The Brown Bess passage is merely one of the author's numerous info-dumps. Others involve topics, like saw-pits and sharpening sawteeth, less than fascinating to me.
Characterization is a strength here, and helps to offset the book's slowness. Morgan is an appealing character, as is his friend Stephen Donovan. Secondary characters are also well drawn, though sometimes they get lost in the epic shuffle. The author portrays several nontraditional romantic relationships, which is nice to see in a genre that often ignores their existence; the portrayals, however, are not entirely free of stereotype. Women do not fare so well here, with even the eventual main love interest being drawn as rather stupid, and characters often express sentiments that seem misogynistic even for the 18th century.
The plot is the main weakness here, because despite its intrinsic interest, it moves very slowly and incorporates little action. The section on the Alexander, the ship transporting the convicts to Australia, is by far the strongest.
Setting is excellent in that the author has obviously done her research and has a firm grasp of her subject, but it intrudes via the aforementioned lumps of exposition.
Language use is generally graceful, though with an anachronism here and there and the occasional authorial intrusion.
I think this book will appeal to readers who enjoy this specific type of historical fiction. Persons needing action, crisis and drama in their novels may want to give it a miss.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Anna Priscilla
5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendous
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2024
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McCullough's books have never failed to entrance me. Through her solid research, you really see the land, know the people. This was a wonderful book with a surprise at the back.
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Arlet
4.0 out of 5 stars Morgan's run
Reviewed in France on October 21, 2018
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Récit intéressant mais trop de détails d'archives tue le détail .
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Diane Emerald
5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and well written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2015
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Well researched and well written. I found it was a little slow to get going and made myself stick with it. I am so glad I did as its a good meaty tome filled with insights in to an awful period of history, and how people somehow survived. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Colleen McCullough says she will write the sequel eventually as it is about real people who are documented, and in fact related to her husband. I do hope she gets on with it as I want it now.

I have read quite a few of Colleen McCullough's books, and I think this is my favourite. For all she is associated with The Thorn Birds, since it became a film and TV series, I don't think that is her best work. Morgan's Run is right up there for me.
3 people found this helpful
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Cliente Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Morgan's Run
Reviewed in Italy on September 13, 2014
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She never lets you done. Historical facts and real life people and all that being human entails. An Incredibile story of one man's life and struggles that helped to creat the New World.Reading this book can only make you feel happy to live in our world- where travelling is so so easy.Reading this book has made me understand so much about Britain's past and it's many errors. Thank you Colleen for writing!!!
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S. Baxter
4.0 out of 5 stars a good story
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024
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The main character was interesting and sympathetic. The only thing that was a little tiresome was the intricacies of daily life were over explained. Oftentimes I thought some editing would be in order.
One person found this helpful
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