The books on Kelly multiply without adding to our understanding. Instead the mythologising becomes more intense and uncritical. Doug Morrissey has something new to say on Kelly and his world. Ned Kelly was very ready with excuses and justifications for his actions. His admiring biographers endorse them. In this book Doug subjects them to close scrutiny. They all fall over and a different Ned emerges - a man who had embraced a lawless life. Doug Morrissey is an expert on life in Kelly country. His previous writings have annoyed the admirers of Australia's most famous bushranger. This book will cause heated debate. It includes a criticism of the best known Kelly books and a line by line annotation of the errors and misrepresentations in Ned's own Jerilderie Letter.

Part I: Larrikin thief -- 1. Horse stealing -- 2. Mrs Kelly's selection -- 3. Whitty and Byrne -- 4. Constable Hall's farewell -- 5. Part II : Bushranger and outlaw -- 5. That bloody Fitzpatrick -- 6. Murdering police -- 7. Going public -- 8. Operation massacre -- 9. A bank robbers' republic -- Conclusion a lawless life -- Appendices I The James Murdock connection -- II The diseased stock agent -- III Superintendent Hare's wound at Glenrowan -- IV The makers of the modern Kelly myth -- V The Jerilderie letter annotated.

Includes bibliographical references and index.


Short listed for the Prime Minister's literary awards in Australian history 2016.

SURNAMES / FAMILY NAMES from the index:
Ainge. Archdeacon. Armstrong. Arthur. Ashmead. Babington. Barnett. Barry. Baumgarten. Berry (Graham). Bowman. Bracken. Brown. Byrne. Cameron. Canny. Carey (Peter). Carrington. Chomley. Clarke. Clune (Frank). Conway. Cox. Curnow. Denny. Devine. Dowsett. Dudley. Duffy. Dwyer. Elliott. Ellis. English. Farrell. Fitzgerald. Fitzpatrick. Fitzsimons. Flood. Flynn. Ford. Frost. Gascoigne. Gibney. Gill. Glass (Hugh). Gloster. Goodman. Gould. Graham. Gribble. Hall. Hare. Hart. Harty. Hayes. Hester. Hobsbawm (Eric). Jeffrey. Jones. Kelly. Kennedy. Kenny. Kershaw. King. Lindsay. Living. Lloyd. Lonigan. Lydeker. Macauley. MacDougall. Maginness / McInnis. Martin. Maslem. Mason. McAliece. McAuliffe. McBean. McCormick. McDonald. McDonnell. McHugh. McIntyre. McKay. McMillan. McQuilton. Metcalf. Molony. Monk. Montfort. Morgan. Mortimer. Murdoch. Murdock. Neilson. Nicholson. Nicolson. Nolan (Sidney). O’Brien. O’Connell. O’Connor. O’Loghlen. O’Neill. O’Shannassy. Parnell. Perkins. Petterson. Pewtress. Piazzi. Power (Harry). Quinn. Radic (Leonard). Rankin. Rawlins. Reardon. Reid. Reynolds. Richards. Ryan. Sadleir. Sandiford. Savage. Scanlan. Scott. Shanks. Sherritt. Skilling. Skillion. Smith. Smyth. Standish. Stanistreet. Steele. Strahan. Sullivan. Tanner. Tarleton. Teffen. Thompson. Unger. Wallings. Ward. Whelan. Whitlow. Whitnell. Whitty. Whitty and Byrne. Wick. Williams. Williamson. Wills. Wilson. Wright.

FULL INDEX available on library computers: Electronic resources \ Indexes \ Ned Kelly

FROM THE INDEX (Place names, institutions, etc.):
Aboriginal trackers. Aborigines. Albion Travellers Rest Hotel, Jerilderie. Albury, NSW. Armour. Arson. ‘Australasian Sketcher’. ‘Australian Son’ (Brown). Avenel, Vic. Bank of New South Wales, Jerilderie. Barmedman, NSW. Barnawartha, Vic. Bayview Hotel, Frankston. Beechworth, Vic. Beechworth Circuit Court. Beechworth Gaol. Beechworth goldfields. Beechworth Hospital. Beechworth oriental exhibition. Beechworth police. Benalla, Vic. Benalla boot maker’s shop fight. Benalla lockup. Benalla police. Benalla Police Court. Berry government. Black Wednesday (1878). Boer War. Boggy Creek, Vic. Boorhaman Catholic School. British Empire. ‘The Bulletin’. Bullock Creek hideout. Cameron letter. Canowindra, NSW. ‘Catholic Advocate’. Chinese. Colonial Artillery Corps. Commons land. Darlinghurst Gaol. Declaration of the Republic of North East Victoria. Diseased stock agent (police spy). Dublin Agricultural College. Dueran station. Duffy certificates. Duffy Land Act. Easter Rebellion (1916). Education Department. Eldorado, Vic. Eleven Mile Creek, Vic. Euroa bank robbery (Dec 1878). Faithfull’s Creek Station. Fenianism. Fifteen Mile Creek, Vic. Fitzpatrick Affair. Glenmore run, Vic. Glenrowan, Vic. Glenrowan Inn. Glenrowan police barracks. Glenrowan Railway Station. Glenrowan School. Glenrowan selectors. Glenrowan siege (June 1880). Gold escort guards. Gold fossicking. Gold mining. Goldfields. Governor of Victoria. Grazing land. Greta, Vic. Greta Catholic School. Greta lockup. Greta lockup brawl. Greta Mob. Greta police. Greta police station. Greta Primitive Methodist Church. Greta selectors. Habeas Corpus. Hedi (Edi) Police Station. Home rule. Hurdle Creek, Vic. Industrial School, Melbourne. Ireland. Irish. Irish National Land League. Irish police. Jamieson, Vic. Jeremiah run. Jerilderie, NSW. Jerilderie bank robbery (Feb 1879). ‘Jerilderie Herald’. Jerilderie Letter (1879). Jerilderie lockup. Jerilderie police station. Jerilderie Post Office. Jerilderie pub (hotel). Jones’s Pub (Hotel). Kelly gang. Kelly selection. ‘Kelly’s manifesto’. Kilmore, Vic. King River. King Valley, Vic. Kyneton, Vic. Laceby, Vic. Land Acts. Land tax. Land wars. Lands Department. Larrikin dress. Lindsay’s Winton Pub (Hotel). Livestock brands. Livestock theft. Local councils. Local land boards. ‘Lorna Doone’ novel. Lurg, Vic. Mangalore run. Mansfield Cemetery. Mansfield horse borrowing incident. Mansfield police. Mansfield police memorial. McColl’s farmhouse. McCormick Affair. McDonnell’s Pub (Hotel), Glenrowan. Meadow Creek, Vic. Melbourne Club. Melbourne Gaol. Monk’s Sawmill. ‘Moreton Bay’ convict ballad. Mount Morgan, Vic. Moyhu, Vic. Moyhu selectors. ‘Music’ (horse). Myrrhee run, Vic. Myth-makers. National Bank, Euroa. National Museum of Australia. ‘Ned Kelly’s letter’. Newspapers. North Eastern Stock Protection League. O’Brien’s Pub (Hotel), Greta. O’Brien’s stable. Oxley, Vic. Oxley police. Oxley Shire Council. Pentridge Gaol. Perjury. Police. Police Commission. Police Gazette. Police harassment. Police informers. Pounds. Public Records Office, London. Railway Tavern, Glenrowan. ‘Register News-Pictorial’. Republic of North East Victoria. Rewards. Richmond Police Depot. Royal Commission on Police Force of Victoria (1881). Royal Mail Hotel, Jerilderie. Rupertswood. Selection Acts. Selectors. Social bandit thesis. Spencer repeating rifle. Squatters. State Library of Victoria. Stock Protection Society. Strathbogie Ranges. Stringybark Creek police murders. Sympathisers of the Kelly Gang. Tumut, NSW. Union Bank. Victoria Hotel, Greta. Victoria Police Museum. Victorian Native Ladies’ Land League. Victorian Public Records Office. Violet Town, Vic. Wagga Wagga Gaol. Wagga Wagga, NSW. Wallan, Vic. Wangaratta, Vic. Wangaratta Hospital. Wangaratta police. Wangaratta Police Court. Webley revolvers. ‘Wild Colonial Boy’ song. Winton, Vic. Winton Pub (Hotel). Winton Store. Wombat Ranges. Young Ireland rebellion.