The Australian Outback and the American Wild West were two of the last frontiers in the territorial conquests and expansions of the 19th century. These frontier territories were wild, lawless and extremely colourful. Although the American Wild West has been celebrated repeatedly in Hollywood films and countless books, we Australians have been much slower to celebrate the heroes and sagas of the development of our Outback. Both countries, however, were equally rich in rep-roaring, wild and woolly times. In our regulated, comfortable and conformist cities of today we find ourselves yearning for an untamed era populated with fast-riding and fast-taking heroes and villains, an era where men were freer to realise their dreams and make their mark in the pages of myth and history.