Hoddle Street: The Ambush and the Tragedy
Australian History Local History Biography Non-Fiction True Crime Criminology Melbourne Crime
Hoddle Street: The Ambush and the Tragedy is the gripping, long-out-of-print 1998 paperback that true-crime collectors and Melbourne historians scramble to find. Written by veteran journalist Peter Haddow, this 296-page first-hand account reconstructs the 1987 Hoddle Street massacre—still one of Australia’s worst mass-shootings—from the first rifle crack to the final court verdict. Because Strategic Australia printed only a small press run before the title disappeared, a clean vintage copy like this one is now considered the definitive Melbourne true-crime collectible.
What makes the book stand out is Haddow’s on-the-ground reporting combined with exclusive police statements, crime-scene photographs, and interviews never published elsewhere. Readers gain an hour-by-hour timeline of the killer’s movements through Clifton Hill and the frantic police dragnet that followed, while survivors and first responders recount how an ordinary Sunday night turned into a city-wide ambush. The narrative also explores the social shockwaves that re-shaped Australian gun laws, making it essential reading for criminology students and anyone tracing Melbourne’s modern history.
This particular 1998 edition is in very respectable vintage condition: light cover scuffing and edge wear consistent with age, a previous owner’s name neatly written on the title page, but otherwise no dog-ears, tears, or underlining, and the binding remains tight. No ex-library stamps, no remainder marks—just an increasingly scarce piece of Australian publishing history ready for the shelf of any serious collector of Melbourne crime, local history, or Australian biography.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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