There are few Australians who cannot recall the opening lines of The Man from Snowy River, and fewer still who are not familiar with the words of Waltzing Matilda. But how much is really known of their author, Australia's most famous poet, Banjo Paterson? Colin Roderick combines the insight of long experience with painstaking research through family documents, unpublished records, archival papers and Paterson's own words to reveal the many factors and influences that made up Paterson's complex character.