I read this book while researching Henry Garrett. I'd already read some of the primary sources and parts of Lance Tonkin's research which McGill draws from. I hoped this book would give me a good overview of Garrett's life and exploits, as well as maybe any angles on the enigmatic Bushranger I may have missed.
It seems that McGill chose to take a lot of his language and phrasing directly from the original sources rather than translate them into his own words and the modern vernacular, resulting in the jarring use of phrases and metaphors straight out of the 1800s. He also seems to have had difficulty in synthesising his sources into a coherent narrative, resulting in chapters that seem to wander confusingly back and forth.
Despite this, McGill was able to evoke strongly the cruelty of the penal system, arousing in the reader a sense of helpless injustice that surely reflects Garrett's own outrage. I went into the book believing that Garrett was most likely a charming sociopath, but now feel that the truth must have been more complex. ( )