"The History of Tasmania" in two volumes is the most significant work by the Australian author John West that features the development of the British colonization of Tasmania, the penal system and the condition of the Aboriginal people. The island was permanently settled by Europeans in 1803 as a penal settlement of the British Empire to prevent claims to the land by the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. The island was initially part of the Colony of New South Wales but became a separate, self-governing colony under the name Van Diemen's Land in 1825. Approximately 75,000 convicts were sent there before transportation ceased in 1853. In 1854 the present Constitution of Tasmania was passed, and the following year the colony received permission to change its name to Tasmania, after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first reported European sighting of the island in 1642. This carefully edited collection has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices.