In the introduction to the best book written on the life of Thunderbolt "A Ghost called Thunderbolt", Stephan William's has this to say, " Few Bushrangers have been subject to such distortion and outright fabrication as has Captain Thunderbolt. Historians have pictured him as a dirty individual, unkempt, ill mannered, given to strong drink and obscenity. Others have presented him in more polished form, but at the same time adding such elaborations and peculiar conjectures that no service to history is performed by their work", he then goes on to say, "Regarding Captain Thunderbolt only two things are not in dispute: the quality of the horses that he stole and rode, and the fact that he never killed or injured those whom he robbed or went in pursuit of him. Everything else is the subject of controversy".

It is interesting to note with so many writers, that articles written in todays newspaper are often regarded as being only about 50% correct and are generally regarded as being subject to the bias of the author and to that of the publisher. Yet when these same authors look at old newspaper stories these are accepted as being completely correct and not subject to question. They are then often quoted ad nauseum in their books as "PROOF" of their version of their story without having done the necessary research themselves, to either prove or disprove what they are writing about. On writing a book it is not good enough to rely on the research of those who have gone before us. History changes when further information and research becomes available, especially through our access to so much more detail through the internet.

So let us have a look at the many stories that have been written on Captain Thunderbolt.

1. "Australian Bushrangers" by George Boxall 1899.

2. "Three Years With Thunderbolt" by Ambrose Pratt 1905 + several later editions.

3. "Captain Thunderbolt" or "The Truth about Thunderbolt" by Annie Rixon 1940 + several later editions.

4. " Thunderbolt - His Last Day" by Noel Thurgood May,1970.

5." Thunderbolt Country", by Greg Powell 1987.

6. "A Ghost called Thunderbolt", by Stephan Williams 1987.

7." Thunderbolt", by Jim Hobden 1988.

8. "The Life and Legend of Thunderbolt" by Noel Sadler 1988.

9. "Thunderbolt", by Bob Cummins 1988.

10. "Captain Thunderbolt- horsebreaker to bushranger", by David Brouwer 2002.

11. "My Story 'Riding with Thunderbolt' - The Diary of Ben Cross " by Allan Baillie 2004.

12. "A Taste of Cockroach - Stories from the wild side " by Allan Baillie 2005.

13. "Captain Thunderbolt & Will Monkton " by B J Nelson 2005.