'Australian author Robert S. Close believes that the Australian past is as picturesque and colourful as that of any country in the world. In this new series he sets out to prove his case by telling some of the remarkable stories of real-life adventure he has dredged up from the depth of the years - stories of piracy and buccaneering along the southern coast of the continent and of the wild characters who held the stage for a brief, violent moment.' (Editor's blurb, The Australian Journal, 1 March 1948, p. 204)