In any part of Australia, almost in any company, the mere mention of Henry Lawsons name will bring an immediate response. Whether it gives rise to an anecdote or a recitation of a few lines of his verse or leads to a discussion of his place in Australian literature it will not pass unnoticed. The poems selected in this book have been enjoyed by more than seven generations, from the famous Facers in the Street which exposed the social injustices of the late 1800s, to The Sliprails and the Spur, described as possibly the most tender and most perfect of all his poems. Combined with Pro Harts paintings, which capture the humour of some of these poems, the pathos and loneliness of others, the poems come alive once more.