The European settlement of the ‘Great Southern Land’, today’s Australia, is a story of first contact between European and Indigenous peoples, colonisation, disease and famine, misunderstandings and arrogant mindedness, tragedy and resilience. What really happened after the First Fleet arrived after sailing across the world to a land Europeans had barely touched upon and knew very little about? ‘Quiet Invasion’ is the true history of today’s Sydney’s first four years.

Tim Ailwood explodes the myths about the first years of the convict settlement on the shores of Sydney Cove. Week by week, month by month, a detailed story of invader and invaded unfolds as the town of Sydney is hacked out of the place once called Warrane. The book follows the men and women who eked out their lives on the shores of Sydney Cove with a host of historical figures: Arthur Phillip, Bennelong, Watkin Tench, Barangaroo, William Dawes, Patyegarang, David Collins, Colbee, John Macarthur, Daringa, Henry Lidgbird Ball, Pemulwuy, William Bradley, to name just a few.