Ned Kelly

The Story of Australia's Most Notorious Legend

Peter FitzSimons

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English

WILLIAM HEINEMANN
01 December 2015

Biography: general; Biography: historical, political & military; History; Australasian & Pacific history

Love him or loathe him, Ned Kelly has been at the heart of Australian culture and identity since he and his gang were tracked down in bushland by the Victorian police and came out fighting, dressed in bulletproof iron armor made from farmers' ploughs.

Historians still disagree over virtually every aspect of the eldest Kelly boy's brushes with the law. Did he or did he not shoot Constable Fitzpatrick at their family home? Was he a lawless thug or a noble Robin Hood, a remorseless killer or a crusader against oppression and discrimination? Was he even a political revolutionary, an Australian republican channeling the spirit of Eureka?

Peter FitzSimons, bestselling chronicler of many of the great defining moments and people of the Australia's history, is the perfect person to tell this most iconic of all Australian stories, from Kelly's early days in Beveridge, Victoria, in the mid-1800s, to the Felons' Apprehension Act, which made it possible for anyone to shoot the Kelly gang, to Ned's appearance in his now-famous armor, prompting the shocked and bewildered police to exclaim: "He is the devil!" and "He is the bunyip!"

FitzSimons brings the history of Ned Kelly and his gang exuberantly to life, weighing in on all of the myths, legends and controversies generated by this compelling and divisive Irish-Australian rebel.

By: Peter FitzSimons
Imprint: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 131mm, Spine: 50mm
Weight: 594g
ISBN: 9780857988140
ISBN 10: 085798814X
Pages: 800
Publication Date: 01 December 2015
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Peter FitzSimons is a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald and Sun-Herald. He is also a regular TV commentator, a former radio presenter (very successfully, with Mike Carlton on Radio 2UE) and is also a former national representative rugby union player. Peter is the author of over 20 books - including Tobruk, Kokoda, Batavia, Mawson and the Ice Men of the Heroic Age, Ned Kelly and biographies of Nancy Wakee Kim Beazleye Nick Farr-Jonese Les Darcy, Steve Waugh and John Eales. Peter is Australia's biggest-selling non-fiction author of the last ten years. Peter was named a Member of the Order of Australia for service to literature as a biographer, sports journalist and commentator, and to the community through contributions to conservation, disability care, social welfare and sporting organisations. He lives with his wife, Lisa Wilkinson, and their three children in Sydney. His forthcoming book is Gallipoli. History comes to life with Peter FitzSimons.