To borrow from Jones and Bassett: ‘Not another Kelly book!’ Well, yes; in fact two more can be added to last year’s bumper crop. One of them comes from Kelly Country itself, written by two local residents. And the two books provide a perfect example of the extremes in the Kelly publishing game.

Ned Kelly: A Pictorial History was obviously compiled for the centenary market. Profusely illustrated, it uses Boxall’s text, written over seventy years ago, to tell the Kelly story. The book is slipshod in its preparation and presentation, shows no signs of editorial planning or basic research, and takes no account of the Kelly literature published since Boxall wrote his book. Boxall’s text is riddled with errors. The publishers have made no attempt to amend it. Even Lonigan’s name is misspelt (Lonergan).