While not all Australians have convict ancestry, we have all inherited vivid stories of the convict experience through our television and cinema screens. Why do we keep telling these stories, and what do they mean? James Findlay's marvellous book is a fascinating history of the ways that our screen culture has imagined the convict, from silent films to reality TV and beyond.

Michelle Arrow, Professor of Modern History, Macquarie University, Australia

Australia has a rich cinematic history, and Findlay has shown us that we have so much more to learn. Caught on Screen offers a fresh perspective on how moving images have sustained and even shaped national identity through representations of convict history.

Marnie Hughes-Warrington, Distinguished Professor, Adelaide University, Australia

Innocent, heroic or horrific, successive cinematic portrayals have shaped Australia's engagement with its convict past. In this remarkable book, James Findlay unwinds those celluloid layers to reveal the power of film as historical device.

Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Professor of Heritage and Digital Humanities, University of New England, Australia

Drawing on case studies from the silent film era to 21st-century reality TV, Caught on Screen examines the evolving and often contradictory representations of the convict amidst political, literary and academic debates about Australian nationhood and cultural identity. James Findlay highlights the enduring global fascination with this cinematically malleable and emblematic figure of Australian history and popular culture, as well as the role film and television play in shaping public memory of colonization in Australia. Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, Caught on Screen is a must-read for students, scholars and curious viewers alike.

Julie Anne Taddeo, Research Professor of History, University of Maryland, USA