A Pictorial History of Bushrangers by Tom Prior Bill Wannan H. Nunn - 1969

In good condition - has markings from use - slight tear on dust jacket - due to differing weights in books, postage maybe adjusted at checkout.

In the chaotic and cruel years of Australia's early history, convicts escaped from chain-gangs and prison cells to seek survival and refuge in the hostile bush. They pillaged farms and travellers, terrorised the roads, and fought desperate and bitter battles with the police and all authority. They were Australia's first bushrangers.

For the next hundred years bushrangers plundered the countryside, often no ordinary criminals, but men driven by the turbulence and injustices of an era of exceptional social and economic changes.

They were in turn brave and cowardly, mean and generous, brutal and kind. Their unlawful deeds were carried out with a colonial élan, a cheeky flamboyance which caught the public's imagination. They were viewed with a curious mixture of horror and awe, hatred and hero-worship.

Eyewitness accounts of their robberies, shootings, captures, indeed anything about them, were eagerly sought, and newspapers were quick to provide the public with relevant information, photos and sketches. Death masks were made of renowned offenders, and "reward" notices preserved. Artists portrayed the "dauntless" men, and there were cartoons reflecting public sympathies often ridiculing troopers and police.

The book traces the history of the bushranging years, giving an insight into the times and the men they produced. From the fleeing, hunted convicts to the "Wild Colonial Boys" who dominated the roads during the gold-rush to the tragic, quixotic Kelly gang, it tells of defiance, endurance, at times gallantry, and of rebellion against police persecution and social injustice.

A Pictorial History of Bushrangers is a book of considerable historical importance. It is also a fascinating and vivid account of a group of men, criminals though they were, who left their mark on the character and language of a new country.