Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags: Australia’s Most Colourful Criminal Characters by Jim Haynes is an entertaining collection of true stories about some of Australia’s most notorious, eccentric and colourful criminal figures.
Published by Allen & Unwin in 2022, this first edition / first printing brings together lively historical accounts of bushrangers, thieves, con artists, gamblers, underworld figures and other memorable characters from Australia’s criminal past. Written in Jim Haynes’ accessible storytelling style, the book blends crime history, biography, folklore and Australian social history.
The book includes figures such as Kate Leigh, the Sydney sly-grog and underworld identity known as the “Queen of Crime”, along with a range of other rogues and ratbags whose stories form part of Australia’s darker, stranger and more colourful historical record.
A suitable title for readers interested in Australian history, true crime, colonial crime, colourful biographies, bushrangers, underworld stories and Australian social history.
