Brad Williams

This book is another fictional account of the notorious criminal Ned Kelly. FitzSimons has not researched this well, ignoring historical documents and almost on all occasions the police are degraded as being thugs. He admitted he did not read authoritative works by professional historians that relate the facts and degrade the fiction that proliferates regarding the Kelly outbreak and subsequently FitzSimons follows on with the mythical nonsense that lauds Kelly as being an underdog. He accepts the word of Ned Kelly, full well knowing that he was a prolific liar, and dismisses evidence given on oath by police and tested in courts as being perjury. In particular his representation of what occurred at Stringybark Creek is fictional through and through. Kelly's word is taken as gospel and Const. McIntyres word is discarded, when in fact his statement actually relate the true story not the lies that Kelly told to make himself look like the victim. FitzSimons states that the police party searching for the Kelly brothers were going to shoot him on site, which of course is another Kelly made up myth, accepted by the author. The police party were not well armed and had 2 sets of handcuffs to secure their prisoners. All 4 members of the Kelly gang at Stringybark Creek had sidearms, and each was carrying either a rifle or shotgun, from McIntyres evidence given on oath. FitzSimons work is a disgrace and does not represent the facts in any way shape or form. It simply lauds a murderer, bank robber, hostage taker, thief, stand over thug, and prolific liar. I am a student of the Kelly era, and sadly this book does not represent the facts at all. There are far better books with facts not fiction.

Ian Jones was a Kelly fan and the book reflects that through and through. He ignored facts that were detrimental to Kelly and lauded him where ever he could with very flowery language. He full well knew that Kelly was an inveterate liar yet accepted every word Kelly spoke or wrote as the gospel truth while discarded police statements and evidence given on oath. Every comment he made regarding police was detrimental and he claimed, quite wrongly that all police perjured themselves when giving evidence against the Kelly clan and in particular Ned Kelly. As a student of the Kelly era, there are at least 300 factual errors in this book, which essentially turns it into a book of fiction rather than facts. This book lauds a very serious criminal and degrades police throughout. He ignores the fact the the Royal Commission into Victoria Police found that the rank and file police acted properly when investigating the criminality of the Kelly clan. Not a book I could recommend as being factual at all.