Robbery Under Arms

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Robbery Under Arms (1888)
by Rolf Boldrewood
Chapter 1
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Robbery Under Arms is a classic Australian novel by Rolf Boldrewood (a pseudonym for Thomas Alexander Browne). It was first published in serialised form by the Sydney Mail between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in London in 1888. It was edited into a single volume in 1889 as part of Macmillan's Colonial Library series and has not been out of print since. It is considered to be one of the greatest Australian colonial novels, along with Marcus Clarke's For the Term of his Natural Life, and has inspired numerous adaptations in film, television and theatre.

Writing in the first person, the narrator Dick Marston tells the story of his life and loves and his association with the notorious bushranger Captain Starlight, a renegade from a noble English family. Set in the bush and goldfields of Australia in the 1850s, Starlight's gang, with Dick and his brother Jim's help, sets out on a series of escapades that include cattle theft and robbery under arms.

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ROBBERY UNDER ARMS

A STORY OF

LIFE AND ADVENTURE IN THE BUSH AND IN
THE GOLDFIELDS OF AUSTRALIA

BY
ROLF BOLDREWOOD
AUTHOR OF 'THE MINER'S RIGHT,' 'THE SQUATTER'S DREAM,'
'A COLONIAL REFORMER,' ETC

London
MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1906



PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION


I dedicate this 'ower true tale' of the wilder aspects of Australian life to my old comrade R. Murray Smith, late Agent-General in London for the colony of Victoria, with hearty thanks for the time and trouble he has devoted to its publication. I trust it will do no discredit to the rising reputation of Australian romance. But though presented in the guise of fiction, this chronicle of the Marston family must not be set down by the reader as wholly fanciful or exaggerated. Much of the narrative is literally true, as can be verified by official records. A lifelong residence in Australia may be accepted as a guarantee for fidelity as to local colour and descriptive detail. I take this opportunity of acknowledging the prompt and liberal recognition of the tale by the proprietors of the Sydney Mail, but for which it might never have seen the light.

ROLF BOLDREWOOD

Collins Street West,
Melbourne, 12th December 1999.


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This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

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