Joseph Byrne was born in Victoria at the height of the Victorian gold rush and his short and turbulent life would see him become one of the most notorious outlaws in the history of Australia. A talented wordsmith, expert horseman and ruthlessly pragmatic, Byrne would be remembered as Ned Kelly's right-hand man. Through meticulous research Georgina Phelan brings Byrne out of Ned Kelly's shadow to be seen for the complex and fascinating man he was in his own right.