Ned Kelly: A Short Life [Paperback]

Ian Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003

Author Ian Jones, acknowledged Australian Ned Kelly authority, shares with us new material in the text, notes and illustrations, and the updated results of his research in this new edition of the definitive biography of Ned Kelly. This edition includes the complete text of the Jerilderie Letter, edited by Ian Jones with annotations, in its appendices.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The best Kelly biography by a country mile Bruce Gaunson, The Australian It will probably stand as the definitive account of Kelly's life and its meaning...a work of prodigious scholarship, vivid reportage and sharp analysis...the most detailed portrait of the outlaw ever written. Rod Moran, West Australian The definitive biographical work Dr John McQuilton, author of The Kelly Outbreak --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ian Jones is Australia's foremost Ned Kelly historian. A former TV and film producer, he was a producer of the film The Lighthorsemen (he also wrote the script), and also created the TV series The Last Outlaw. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Lothian Books; 1st edition (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0734405448
• ISBN-13: 978-0734405449
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,210,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In a Word: Brilliant, April 27, 2000

By 

T. C. Ross (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ned Kelly: A Short Life (Paperback)

Ian Jones offers a sympathetic look at the life and times of Ned Kelly, one of the last and the most successful of the Australian bushrangers (roughly the equivalent of highwaymen).

From his early days as troubled youth to his end in Melbourne Gaol, and all the details of the time between. This is complete look at Ned, how his world view evolved, and how he closely he came to sparking a full-fledged revolt against the British Crown.

Although Jones is sympathetic to Ned, he does not try to hide unseemly details about Ned, his gang or his family -- which simply adds to the value of book. This is a complete portrait of the man, and it makes for riveting reading.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Certainly Up There, October 15, 2005

By 

Bu-Chan (Aotearoa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ned Kelly: A Short Life (Paperback)

Ned Kelly is one of those figures where the solid accretion of legend and myth has made getting to the real man a difficult task in all. Kelly is both near-worshiped as a hero and reviled as a criminal who got what he deserved at the end of a rope in 1880. The recent film "Ned Kelly", starring Heath Ledger, portrayed him as a largely innocent victim of police harrassment and injustice. There are plenty who would label him a vicious, callous and murderous villain. Most likely, the truth is somewhere in between.

"Ned Kelly: A Short Life" by Ian Jones is a book about "somewhere in the middle". Jones looks at the evidence, the speculation and the hearsay, and presents as accurate a picture of the real Ned Kelly as you will probably get. Jones is openly candid about what is uncertain, and where different testimonies differ and how. A good case in point is the so-called Fitzgerald incident in the Kelly home, after which Alexander Fitzgerald claimed Kelly had tried to shoot him. Jones quite honestly states that no one really knows what actually happened, as testimony differs. However, Jones is also not shy about giving what he sees as the most plausible explanation.

The mindless hero-worship and the bitter revulsion that is given Kelly tend to over-simplify him. Jones presents a very complex man, and presents elements that add to that complexity. Kelly was a man of contradictions. Ian Jones brings that out, and delves deeply into the surroundings and motivations of what made Kelly "tick".

In the Kelly story, there are also a host of other colourful characters from among Kelly's associates as well as among the Police and the government of the day. Jones covers these people as well, in so far as they impacted on Kelly and company.

This is a very thorough book, and one certainly worth the read. If you only have one book on Kelly, then make it this one. Great as an introduction to the man and his times, Ian Jones has written a fantastic book. I would advise reading it before watching any movies on Kelly, such as Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fact From Fiction....And Wheat From Chaff, April 24, 2005

By 

John Lonergan (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ned Kelly: A Short Life (Hardcover)

125 years after he was executed for murder, Ned Kelly is still reviled, revered and remembered.
Ian Jones writes about Kelly with the authority of an historian, the style of a stortyteller and the reflection of a sociologist.
The context of Kelly's reign (of terror?) is as important as its content, and Jones goes beyond chronology to take us into Kelly's world - a raw, growing nation, struggling with its identity, its mores, its weather and its ethnicity.
Anyone who has heard of the Kelly legend, and wants to explore it, will love and value this book
After reading Jones' account (and having a couple of months' break), I turned to Peter Carey's novel, "True Story of the Kelly Gang." The juxtaposition of fact and fiction is an interesting one, and I was glad I read both.