Born Or Bred? Martin Bryant: The Making Of A Mass Murderer

Martin Bryant murdered 35 people and injured 37 during the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in 1996, a crime for which he is serving 35 life sentences in Hobart’s Risdon Prison. It remains one of the largest single massacres by an individual and was the catalyst for Australia’s gun law reform. Because Byrant pleaded guilty the case never went to trial and the full story of this tragedy was never released. Now Robert Wainwright and Paola Totaro, both senior news writers with The Sydney Morning Herald, have spoken to Bryant’s mother, his psychiatrists and others who knew him. They have gained access to confession tapes made just after the murders and explored Bryant’s family history dating back 150 years. With this exclusive insight the authors have pieced together the never-before-heard story of Bryant’s life leading up to the massacre and what happened that fateful day. Their findings bring important issues concerning nature or nurture to light, and Born or Bred tells the compelling story of the tragedy Australia will never forget.

Robert Wainwright has been a journalist for 30 years, rising from the grassroots of country journalism in Western Australia to become a senior writer with The Sydney Morning Herald. His career has ranged from politics to crime, always focusing on the people behind the major news of the day. He was a Walkley Awards finalist in 2004. This is his fourth book, after Rose: The unauthorised biography of Rose Hancock Porteous (2002), The Lost Boy (2004) and The Killing of Caroline Byrne (2009).

Paola Totaro is the European Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age. Before her posting to London, she was Editor of the Saturday Sydney Morning Herald. Paola has held some of the paper's most senior positions in her 26-year career, including editing News Review, heading the Herald's State Political Bureau and leading the Education and Urban Affairs teams.