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'Not much attempt had been made to enforce discipline among the women, many of them London prostitutes, who had turned the ship into a floating brothel at her various ports of call.' - Lieutenant Riou, Commander of 'The Guardian' 1789-1791

"The Floating Brothel" is the antidote for bodice-ripping history, exposing the story of 237 female convicts - mainly taken from London's fever-ridden, overcrowded Newgate Gaol - to the fledgling colony of New South Wales. Though it was percieved that the ship was rife with prostitution and debauchery, the reality was more complex and more interesting, differing dramatically from the well-known stories of hellish journeys to Australia.

According to custom, each sailor was entitled to take a women, an arrangement that brought privileges to the woman as well as relief for the men. John Nicol, steward and ship's cooper for the voyage, fell deeply in love with 19 year old Sarah Whitelam, convicted of theft worth more than 51 shillings. Their child was one of several born during the voyage. What happened to them after arriving at Port Jackson is one of the many fascinating stories in this lively and refreshing book. The author casts new light on an important and under-documented corner of Australia's history.

Based on masses of painstaking research into contemporary sources such as the convicts' trial records-most of them were prostitutes or petty thieves-and the first-hand account of the voyage written by the ship's steward, John Nicol, this is a riveting work of recovered history.