Bandits is a study of the social bandit or bandit-rebel - robbers and outlaws who are not regarded by public opinion as simple criminals, but rather as champions of social justice, as avengers or as primitive resistance fighters." "Whether Balkan haiduks, Indian dacoits or Brazilian congaceiros, their spectacular exploits have been celebrated and preserved in story and myth. Some are known only to their own countrymen; others, like Robin Hood, Rob Roy and Jesse James, are famous throughout the world. Setting the historical figures against the ballads, legends and films they have inspired, the author's examples range across the last four hundred years and come from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.