The Rise and Fall of Squizzy Taylor

No one was safe in the Melbourne of the 1920s. Gangs operated in hotels and brothels, gunshots were fired in the streets of Fitzroy, and sly grog shops, armed robbery and protection rackets were rife. Through it all strode the notorious Squizzy Taylor, always one step ahead of the police, and with not a speck of evidence to give him away. The daily press eagerly reported his crimes and marvelled at his daring...but was he really anything more than a bloody-minded criminal who would one day get what he deserved? And what is it in the spirit of Melbourne that keeps the legend of Squizzy Taylor alive today?

Hugh Anderson is a prolific writer of over 80 works embracing Australian biography, local and general history, biblography, folklore and folksong. He started writing in the 1940s as a student teacher in Victoria, Australia, and after writing Larrikin Crook: The Rise and Fall of Squizzy Taylor in 1971, in the same year went on to become a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. He was made Chair of the Committee of Inquiry into Folklife in Australia in 1986, and more recently, Hugh has been admitted to the prestigious degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa at the University of Melbourne. He currently lives in Melbourne, where he is still working.