Don's Review

NED KELLY'S LAST DAYS
by Alex Castles
reviewed by Don Farmer

AS a confirmed Kelly buff I had a jaundiced view of this book before I had even opened the cover.
Friends in Australia who share a passion for the greatest story on earth had read it, and largely rubbished it.
It was too pro-police, anti Ned and error ridden, they said.
So, I must say that having begun from that starting point I was surprised just what an interesting read this book was, albeit that from a purist's viewpoint there were some periods of frustration - not so much because of errors in the historical text but more so because of claims made that seemed to not be backed up by proper evidence or reference points.
The most annoying of these was the repeated claim that Ned had a reputation as a violent bully, seemingly based on the reflections of a former classmate who obviously didn't hit it off with the rough and ready young Ned.
Also annoying was the insistence that Ned was intent on slaughtering everyone aboard the police train - including civilians and journalists -that he had hoped to derail at Glenrowan. I think Ned's use of colourful language and obvious delight at " putting the frighteners up" people for effect was extended to be a literal truth here!
During the hunt he had shown compassion to very many people and no desire to wipe innocents out in a gory bloodbath.
Many of the so-called errors that have been identified by earlier reviewers were minor, and even down in some cases to interpretation.
An example of this is Castles claim that school teacher Thomas Curnow had managed to "escape" from the inn immediately prior to the Glenrowan siege, allowing him to alert the police train steaming towards the showdown with the Kelly gang.
We all know that he had, in fact, cleverly worked on Ned and had managed to convince him that it was safe to allow Curnow to return home to his wife.
But that, in itself, could be termed an " escape", being from the clutches of the gang rather than actually scrambling through a window.
So I fear there has been some nitpicking here.
Ned Kelly's Last Days is a story of exactly that and therefore should only be read, apart from those of us who are devotees, by those who have taken the time to swot up on the Kelly story.
You will not learn much at all from this manuscript of the early life of Ned, his fellow gang members or his siblings, you will not get much of a grasp of what preceded their outlaw reign or even what led to the police killings at Stringybark Creek.
You will learn much about the fragility of human friendship, even family loyalty and no-one who reads this book could surely come away with anything but disgust for the judicial system that existed in Victoria in 1880.
A system that clearly conspired to deny Ned Kelly, as it probably did many others, the chance of being fairly tried for crimes on which his life literally depended.
What you will get is a well-written, lively account of the last days and a feel for the lonely, hopeless position the jailed bushranger found himself in.
While the book does not flatter Ned, I felt it didn't altogether flatten him either.

Don Farmer

Thank you very much Don for this terrific review of the book.
You are right, we know a lot about the story already and that can
affect how we see these books. I try not to nit-pick either, but it is
hard to break the habit.

Dave.