A true story vividly brought to life.

This is the story of William Buckley, a convict transported from England in 1803. He escaped and spent thirty-two years living with the Wadawurrung people of the Bellarine Peninsular, near present-day Melbourne.

“Duncan Campbell. Now there’s a name you might like to roll around your mouth before spitting it out, William. He was the Scottish merchant who had overseen the prison hulk system, appointing all those brutal overseers, and presiding over all that misery.”

“Well here’s some good news. Campbell has just died at home in Kent. A little hard to hear the cheering on all those hulks back in Portsmouth and on the Thames when you are in the middle of the Atlantic… but good riddance to a man who had profited from so much misery.”

”A man can always hope. Damn hard thing to do in a place like this, though. A man would have to be a saint to find a glimmer of optimism in this fetid hole.”

~Quotes from “Buckley’s Chance” by Garry Linnell.

• Better Reading: “Exceptionally well-researched, Linnell has delivered a terrific tale. The story is split into three sections that along with polished prose written in an unusual conversational style means that Buckley’s Chance is not your average historical biography. It’s vivid in its descriptions of not only Buckley but many figures of that time, as well as the setting and time period. William Buckley was an astounding character and Linnell does a brilliant job of bringing him to life on the page. I found Buckley’s Chance absolutely fascinating and highly entertaining.”