True History of the Kelly Gang
Literary Fiction Australian Historical Fiction Bushranger/Outlaw Tale Colonial-Anti-colonial Narrative True-Crime Thriller Booker-Prize Winner Australiana Collectible Irish-Australian Diaspora Story
Peter Carey’s Celebratory Edition hardcover of True History of the Kelly Gang (University of Queensland Press, 2000) is the collector’s crown jewel for anyone fascinated by Australian bushranger lore. Winner of the Booker Prize, this novel masquerades as Ned Kelly’s own lost manuscripts—written in raw, unpunctuated voice that makes the notorious outlaw feel startlingly alive. Beneath the dust jacket (showing only light shelf wear) lies a volume that bridges high literature and national myth: Carey’s meticulous research into colonial Victoria, the Kelly family’s Irish resistance to British rule, and the birth of Australia’s bushranging legend. The result is a page-turning blend of historical fiction and true-crime thriller that young-adult and adult readers alike devour in a single weekend.
What sets this edition apart is its scarcity in hardcover—UQP’s Celebratory print-run was modest, and most copies went straight to Australian libraries. Finding one with an intact dust jacket and clean text block is increasingly rare, especially outside Australia. The book’s physical heft mirrors the weight of its subject: thick, high-quality paper stock and generous margins invite marginalia from history buffs, while the sepia-toned endpaper maps of 1870s north-east Victoria double as ready-to-frame art. For collectors of Australiana, Carey’s signature blend of geography, anti-colonial politics, and outlaw romance makes this the literary equivalent of a gold-field excavation—every chapter turns up nuggets of buried national identity.
Whether you’re building a bush-ranger shelf, hunting Booker Prize winners in original hardcover, or gifting a milestone birthday to an Aussie expat, this copy delivers. Condition notes are honest: a faint mark to the top edge and light rubbing to the jacket keep the price accessible while still offering display-worthy eye-candy on the shelf. Secure it now before the forthcoming television adaptations and Carey anniversaries push values even higher.
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