Too Young to Hold a Gun: Thunderbolt's Apprentice Bushranger

by Peter Spencer

Will Monckton ran away at age 13 and joined the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt for a life of crime because it seemed better than being abused by his stepfather. He rode with the outlaw for almost a year before being captured and senteced to 6 years imprisonmnet with 1 year of hard labour. He was 14 years old. This is a fictionalised account of the author's great grandfather's life set in the Australian bush of the 1860s.

329 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

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Reviews

[Andrew Bysterveldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I picked it up at a visitor centre while travelling through the New England highlands. After a lifetime hearing glorified stories of bushrangers, it was refreshing to read a more realistic story of how their lives must have been. I have since driven through the New England and kept looking at the places differently. They all became places linked to Thunderbolt.

[Carly F · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was vividly detailed with such expressive dialogue.
You can actually imagine you are in the life of William Monkton.
Loved the memory flashbacks, very clever.
It's a must read for an Australian.