Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly has been at the heart of Australian culture and identity since he and his Gang were tracked down in the Australian bush by the police and, early on 28 June 1880, came out fighting, dressed in bullet-proof iron armour made from farmers' ploughs. Historians still disagree over virtually every aspect of Edward Kelly's brushes with the law. Was he a lawless thug or a noble Robin Hood? Was he a remorseless killer or a crusader against oppression and discrimination? Was he even a political revolutionary, channelling the spirit of a young nation's wish to rid itself of its colonial shackles? Love him or loathe him, the Ned Kelly legend is one of the most enduring of all - one that reaches far beyond the national boundaries and psyche of Australia. There has always been something about him, what he did and how he did it, that gripped and fascinated and appalled not only his generation but every generation since. Why? What exactly is it?In endeavouring to get to the bottom of the Kelly legend and answer these questions, Peter FitzSimons - one of Australia's bestselling writers and the acclaimed chronicler of some of his country's defining moments - has brought the story of this iconic and still divisive figure exuberantly and compellingly to life as never before.