Conor McCarthy is Director of Philanthropy at the National Library of Australia.

Outlaws and Spies will be of interest to those who study the history of nation states and the relationship between governments and their peoples, in both the real and imagined worlds … McCarthy's work is timely, as we continue to live in an era of growing uncertainty regarding the delineation between state power, particularly concerning covert surveillance and propaganda, and the basic human rights of individual autonomy and protection of the law.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionOutside the Law in the Middle AgesSovereign Outlaws: Shakespeare’s Second TetralogyThe Endurance of Exclusion: Versions of Ned Kelly‘We’re not policemen’: Espionage and Law in John le Carré‘All plots tend to move deathward’: Plots and Consequences in Don DeLilloUnanswered Questions: Ciaran CarsonContesting the Virtual: William GibsonConclusionBibliographyIndex