AustLit

'David Dufty goes back to the records to uncover the real story of the police officers who pursued the Kelly Gang. This pacey account of the capture of the Kelly Gang reads like a detective story.

'He lurched through the gun smoke, his armour glinting in the moonlight, and started shooting. To the weary men and women at the burning Glenrowan hotel, he appeared like a crusader from medieval times.

'For over a century, the Ned Kelly legend has grown and grown. He's become Australia's Robin Hood, and leader of a colonial Irish resistance. How much of the legend is true?

'This is the real story of the hunt for the Kelly Gang over two long years. As gripping as any police procedural, it is an account of poorly trained officers unfamiliar with the terrain, in pursuit of the most dangerous men in the state.

'By recounting the story from the perspective of the law, for the first time, David Dufty gets to the heart of the story and finds answers to many unresolved questions. Why was the gang always one step ahead of the police? Why did so many law-abiding citizens assist the outlaws? Did the illiterate Ned really write the impassioned Jerilderie Letter? Did the police really persecute the Kelly family? Who was Michael Ward and why is he the real hero in the capture of Ned Kelly?' (Publication summary)