Author(s): Alex C Castles

History

Australia's leading legal historian examines the chain of events that occurred between Ned Kelly's last stand at Glenrowan and the day he faced the public executioner revealing the truth behind the drama, intrigue, and pathos of the death of Australia's most notorious outlaw. Ned Kelly - Australia's beloved national icon - was once just a bushranger who had to be punished for his crimes. In 1880, everyone wanted him dead. There are many stories that form the Kelly myth. But the side of the story rarely told is what really happened in the 137 days between Ned's last stand at Glenrowan and the day the hangman's noose was placed around his neck. Who was with him in his last hours, and why did he have so many powerful enemies? Ned Kelly's Last Days exposes the blatant cover-ups, the corruption and the rampant press baying for blood that were ultimately Ned Kelly's death sentence. Piecing together a vast jigsaw of obscure records and unpublished material, Alex Castles sets the record straight on the highly questionable judicial processes of the time and sheds a whole new light on the life and death of the most famous bushranger of them all.