The Toe Cutters turn up in a lot of books, usually for a chapter or a few pages. Here is every book worth reading on the gang, what each one covers, and where its story fits.
The Toe Cutters, by Ben Scott (2026)
The Toe Cutters: The True Story of the Men Who Terrorised Australia's Underworld is the only book that tells the gang's whole history. It runs from the Guildford armoured van robbery of 1970 and the hunt for its money, through the disappearances of Baldy Blair, Kevin Gore and Robert Donnelly, Driscoll's two murder trials and the High Court, the murder of Johnny Regan, the Great Bookie Robbery in Melbourne and the Costigan Royal Commission, to Chopper Read and the legend that outgrew the men.
It is built from court judgments, coroners' findings, royal commission reports, the newspapers of the time and every memoir on this list, with a source for each chapter and a full bibliography. It is 18 chapters and 224 pages in paperback.
The Outside, by Larry Blair with Jeremy Goring (2024)
Larry Blair won the Pipeline Masters twice and grew up, as the ABC put it, in a childhood of "bank robbers, gangsters and jewel thieves". His stepfather was Baldy Blair, one of the three gunmen at Guildford, and The Outside tells what the family was told about his disappearance. It is the family's side of the story, and much of what anyone knows about Baldy's last weeks comes from it. It is a memoir of Larry's life and surfing career, not a history of the gang. Read what happened to Baldy Blair.
Justice Denied, by Bill Hosking QC with John Suter Linton (2017)
The memoir of the barrister who, as a young Public Defender, made the final address at Linus Driscoll's retrial in 1977. It is the best account of the case from inside the courtroom and of the police "verbal" that Driscoll's appeal put on trial. Read about Driscoll v The Queen.
The Gangland books, by James Morton and Susanna Lobez
The crime historians James Morton and Susanna Lobez touch the Toe Cutters in several books, including Gangland Sydney, Gangland Australia (2014), Gangland Melbourne (2011) and Gangland Robbers (2016). They place Baldy Blair's death in the cellar of the Iron Duke hotel, tell how the Toecutters left Ray Chuck alone after the Great Bookie Robbery, and give the fullest account of Leslie Woon, the man newspapers named as Guildford's planner.
Chopper: From the Inside, by Mark Brandon Read (1991)
The book that made the word toecutter famous. Its chapter called Toecutting sets out Read's version of the trade, and his later books describe Linus Driscoll, "The Pom", as his teacher. Read warned his readers more than once that he was pulling their leg. Read about Chopper Read and the Toe Cutters.
The Real Chopper, by Adam Shand (2014)
Read's biographer checked the legend claim by claim and concluded that Read never cut off anyone's toes or put a blowtorch to anyone's feet, and that those stories were borrowed from the legend of Linus Driscoll.
The First Murderer I Ever Met, by Mark Dapin (2025)
The writer Mark Dapin's book about the criminals and police he has met covers Read at length, and calls Driscoll "the real leader of the actual Toecutter Gang, whose exploits Mark Read had exaggerated and appropriated".
Drug Traffic, by Alfred McCoy (1980)
The American historian's study of organised crime in Australia is still the standard history of Sydney's underworld in the 1960s and 1970s: the casinos, the corruption and the killings, including Johnny Regan's.
A podcast: The Gangster's Ghost (2025)
Not a book, but essential. Matthew Condon's ten-part series for The Australian, made with Johnny Regan's cousin Kelly Slater, uses tapes Regan recorded himself. Read about Johnny Regan.
Where to start
If you want the family's story, start with The Outside. If you want the courtroom, read Justice Denied. If you want the whole history of the gang, from the car park at Guildford to the legend, it is in The Toe Cutters.