With the failure of each attempt to cross into Canada and revive the Rebellion, combatants were taken into custody. Trials resulted in hangings, acquittals, or pardons. One group of ninety-two prisoners, however, was sentenced to penal transportation for life in Australia's far distant island of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).

Drawing on a wide variety of letters, diaries, and personal reminiscences, the author tells the story through the experiences of the men and women who lived it. A minor "epic," To the Outskirts... is more than the story of the Rebellion of 1837. It is a vivid portrait of life in the Canadian-American borderland as well as in England and Australia during the second quarter of the nineteenth century.