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Wrecking Crew
From the bestselling author of Enforcer.
Wrecking Crew takes you into the heart of the Bandidos, and the outlaw biker world, through the eyes, fists and boots of Caesar Campbell, founding member of the Bandidos in Australia and the club's first sergeant-at-arms and legendary enforcer.
Jailed for seven years after the bloody ambush at Milperra that saw two of his brothers killed, Caesar led and protected the other imprisoned members of his club inside some of Australia's toughest jails. But when he was finally released Caesar found that the world of the outlaw motorcycle gangs was changing, and that his particular values of courage, brutal force and utter loyalty to your club were making him more enemies than friends.
And with Caesar Campbell you'd rather be a friend than an enemy...
Wrecking Crew takes you into the heart of the Bandidos, and the outlaw biker world, through the eyes, fists and boots of Caesar Campbell, founding member of the Bandidos in Australia and the club's first sergeant-at-arms and legendary enforcer.
Jailed for seven years after the bloody ambush at Milperra that saw two of his brothers killed, Caesar led and protected the other imprisoned members of his club inside some of Australia's toughest jails. But when he was finally released Caesar found that the world of the outlaw motorcycle gangs was changing, and that his particular values of courage, brutal force and utter loyalty to your club were making him more enemies than friends.
And with Caesar Campbell you'd rather be a friend than an enemy...
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
9 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 20, 2014
For someone who thinks he can get away with anything, will never get away with being a good author.... poorly written. Jumped from one extreme to the next. Very boring and found myself wanting to cut my own fingers off
February 16, 2012
Intending to read a book in a week this was my first book I tackled that 'challenge' with and I got through with a few days to spare.
What can I say about this book? First off it's very simple in the way it's writen with hardly any big words that will have scratching your head and reaching to find a dictionary.
It talks about Caesar and his life in the Banditos Outlaw Motorbike gang, you read about him going to jail, defending his gang, being shot at, illegal work, punch ups, shoot outs, brawls and basically how the club changed infront of his eyes. Certainly how clubs are no longer what they used to be when he was younger.
It's not a bad book to read and I'm sure it's probably a book you could get through within a few days because of it's style.
What can I say about this book? First off it's very simple in the way it's writen with hardly any big words that will have scratching your head and reaching to find a dictionary.
It talks about Caesar and his life in the Banditos Outlaw Motorbike gang, you read about him going to jail, defending his gang, being shot at, illegal work, punch ups, shoot outs, brawls and basically how the club changed infront of his eyes. Certainly how clubs are no longer what they used to be when he was younger.
It's not a bad book to read and I'm sure it's probably a book you could get through within a few days because of it's style.
May 31, 2012
3 hours to read cover to cover. Couldnt put it down.
March 9, 2014
Good book. Couldn't put it down.
January 1, 2020
I loved this! This is definitely not a book you swallow hook, line, and sinker, and for anyone who believes that Caesar went to what was to become known as the Milperra Massacre not expecting any trouble: come over here, I have a bridge to sell you. However you can find much more than spin and bias in this account of both the Massacre and the life and times of "Caesar" Campbell. When two warring outlaw motor cycle gangs go to battle in a public space, they are not only causing trauma to other people but being part of any event like this is traumatic to themselves as participants too even if only expressed through the grief for brothers lost.
I did appreciate many of the stories and events recorded in this memoir, many even brought a smile or a chuckle.
Nothing will erase the disastrous day of September 2nd 1984, Father's Day at a swap meet in suburban Sydney from the Australian (or world) history books and there is little apology for that day here (in this book) but Wrecking Crew does represent a chance to hear about it firsthand from a participant.
It is an insight into the love and loyalty that can exist within a band of brothers - it is also an insight into the change in the bonds and expectations of outlaw clubs after Milperra and in more recent times.
I did appreciate many of the stories and events recorded in this memoir, many even brought a smile or a chuckle.
Nothing will erase the disastrous day of September 2nd 1984, Father's Day at a swap meet in suburban Sydney from the Australian (or world) history books and there is little apology for that day here (in this book) but Wrecking Crew does represent a chance to hear about it firsthand from a participant.
It is an insight into the love and loyalty that can exist within a band of brothers - it is also an insight into the change in the bonds and expectations of outlaw clubs after Milperra and in more recent times.
April 12, 2023
Very easy, enjoyable read, with some funny (and gruesome) humour throughout. The book gives a great insight into the early days of the bikie culture in Australia, and that has morphed through the decades.
July 7, 2018
A bloody brutal account into the Outlaw Bikie life by the former Sergeant-At-Arms of the Bandidos, Colin "Ceaser' Campbell.
January 12, 2019
A great read, highly recommend.
August 1, 2019
Very different to what I normally read but I found myself really interested to learn about this part of Australia’s history that I hadn’t considered before.
February 1, 2023
When I was a kid at tech. school , maybe 16 yrs old , the first ( non school ) book I ever bought and read was Hunter S. Thompsons " Hells Angels "
Wrecking Crew reminds me a lot of this same book .
It tells of extreme violence & the other side of that coin .
Wrecking Crew reminds me a lot of this same book .
It tells of extreme violence & the other side of that coin .
December 27, 2011
The sub-title of the book is ‘the brutal true story of the Bandios’ legendary sergeant-at-arms.’ ‘Brutal’ is no understatement. If anything, ‘brutal’ has been a simple fact of life for Caesar Campbell.
This was a compulsive read once I had started, unable to put it down. It held an almost horrid fascination like going past the scene of a terrible car accident and just having to have a look.
At times I found myself being oddly drawn to Campbell through his love of and loyalty to first his family then the biker club he was the founding member of in Australia. Then he would casually relate something such as the collection of fingers he used to keep in a jar of formaldehyde as souvenirs of people he had bashed. So I found I was bouncing between grudging respect and shocked exclamations that the man is a complete psychopath.
The book is an eye-opener about the world of the ‘outlaw’ biker. They really do see themselves as a world apart from what is the norm for the rest of us. It also shows how that world began changing in the wake of the Comancheros ambush of the Bandidos at Milperra in 1984, with many members of both clubs in prison for murder and manslaughter. It was no longer the tight little world it had once been.
Quoting Campbell...
“When I started out in bikes, you joined a club because you wanted mateship, and you wanted blokes to ride with. And for hardcore blokes like and my brothers, the outlaw bike club was the last place you could go to enjoy that territorial rivalry that went on between clubs. It was like being a Viking or Scotsman highlander. Not that we went around bashing people willy-nilly, but we loved that atmosphere of tension. The feeling that trouble may be just around the corner. ...whenever you were riding through another club’s territory, there was always the thrill that you might get stopped and end up in a punch-up. We fed off that.”
We also see how Campbell was betrayed by another Bandido, bringing an effective end to his time there. As far as he is concerned, Caesar is still on leave of absence from the club (part of their surprisingly rigid code) and therefore is still a Bandido, even though the man Campbell made the agreement with took the details with him to the grave without revealing it to members of the club.
This is not a pretty story. Far from it. Readers will find themselves by turn repulsed, respecting, upset and horrified by the story of Caesar Campbell.
This was a compulsive read once I had started, unable to put it down. It held an almost horrid fascination like going past the scene of a terrible car accident and just having to have a look.
At times I found myself being oddly drawn to Campbell through his love of and loyalty to first his family then the biker club he was the founding member of in Australia. Then he would casually relate something such as the collection of fingers he used to keep in a jar of formaldehyde as souvenirs of people he had bashed. So I found I was bouncing between grudging respect and shocked exclamations that the man is a complete psychopath.
The book is an eye-opener about the world of the ‘outlaw’ biker. They really do see themselves as a world apart from what is the norm for the rest of us. It also shows how that world began changing in the wake of the Comancheros ambush of the Bandidos at Milperra in 1984, with many members of both clubs in prison for murder and manslaughter. It was no longer the tight little world it had once been.
Quoting Campbell...
“When I started out in bikes, you joined a club because you wanted mateship, and you wanted blokes to ride with. And for hardcore blokes like and my brothers, the outlaw bike club was the last place you could go to enjoy that territorial rivalry that went on between clubs. It was like being a Viking or Scotsman highlander. Not that we went around bashing people willy-nilly, but we loved that atmosphere of tension. The feeling that trouble may be just around the corner. ...whenever you were riding through another club’s territory, there was always the thrill that you might get stopped and end up in a punch-up. We fed off that.”
We also see how Campbell was betrayed by another Bandido, bringing an effective end to his time there. As far as he is concerned, Caesar is still on leave of absence from the club (part of their surprisingly rigid code) and therefore is still a Bandido, even though the man Campbell made the agreement with took the details with him to the grave without revealing it to members of the club.
This is not a pretty story. Far from it. Readers will find themselves by turn repulsed, respecting, upset and horrified by the story of Caesar Campbell.
June 4, 2012
This is a fascinating follow up to Caesar Campbell's 'Enforcer'. It gives a real insight into a world that most of us will never know. The casual way that violence is approached in this memoir, and in Caesar's bikie world, is nothing less than horrifying, but the intrigue and politico nature of the upper echelons in the club is equally as memorable.
January 11, 2013
Another great read that lives up to the promise made by Enforcer. I highly recommend this one to anyone interested in the lifestyle of outlaw bikers...
June 30, 2014
Great follow up from his first book. Gives an insight into the politics of an outlaw motor cycle club. Highly recommend.
April 19, 2016
Good shit mate.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews