Australia's bushrangers were criminals, but in a country ill-governed and poor, that made them romantic heroes as well. And, like most romantic heroes, they come off better in legend than in actual fact.

This poses a problem for those who are writing about them: How much attention does one pay to the legend? Especially given that the actual facts are few. Most bushrangers lived fast and died young; many died in the wild rather than in custody; few were literate. Their stories had to be compiled from their survivors -- or if they had no survivors (common) or their survivors were silent (even more common), then they ended up being mostly made up.

What's more, "bushranger" was not an occupation that came with a job description, official regulations, and a benefit package. Every outlaw had his own rules that he worked under -- a man like Ben Hall reportedly was not violent, but plenty of others would as soon shoot as talk.

So the overall picture of the bushrangers is disorganized. And this book follows in their footsteps. There are some interesting photos. The account of, say, the famous Kelly Gang is fairly coherent. But, on the whole, it's more of a checklist than an actual history. There is no real theme. If you want to look up a particular gang, it may give you what you want. If you want a complete history, this isn't the book for you. ( )