A classic of Australian biography, close to being the definitive biography of the famous bushranger, but the none the less very readable rather than being academically ponderous. Loses a point or two for excess verbosity, but captures the mood of the times exceptionally well. Jones' sympathy for Kelly is obvious, which may rile the many who still regard the outlaw as an odious killer, but to his credit this sympathy does not go so far as sugar-coating Kelly's crimes. The lead-up to Kelly's execution is handled particularly well and is very moving, reminding us that behind the legend was a human being with hopes and fears like any of us. What does come across very strongly in this book is kelly's enormous force of charcater. he was a man who literally dominated, both physically or mentally, almost everyone he met, inspiring either fear, or tremendous admiration, to the point men were literally willing to die for him. The one over-riding impression I get from this book is a sense of a wasted life that might have achieved great things. If Kelly had been born into different circumstances, there is no limit to what a character with such force of personality and ability to command the loyaity of others could have accomplished. I can envision him being a firebrand politician, a fearless social reformer, a larger than life general commanding Anzac troops in the First World War. Even, as someone once wrote in a historical what-if, Australia's first Prime Minister Highly recommended for anyone who wants the full story of the Kelly Outbreak. ( )

Considered the definitive biography of Australia's ironclad outlaw, Ian Jones has drawn together and reassembled just about every worthwhile fact on Ned Kelly in an extremely entertaining form. It is a great read, and packed judiciously with detail.The end product looks like something that should be made into a film (which onetime scriptwriter Mr Jones did, on two occasions.) While he does not deny that Ned had faults, on occasion he is a little too enthusiastic in his support for someone who chose, on various occasions, to be a thief and a murderer and was willing to slaughter more, including innocent railway personnel and passengers, on the police train he attempted to wreck. Mr Jones's contention that Ned intended to establish a republic in the northeast of Victoria also rests on very slender evidence, much of it oral or circumstantial, or both. ( )