In the Name of Decent Citizens: The Trials of Frank De Groot by Wright, Brian - 2006

ABC Books, 2006. Hardcover (14 x 21 cm), 189 pages. ISBN: 0733319033. Good+ condition. The boards are bumped, rubbed, most notably at head & foot of spine and corners. The dust jacket is rolled/creased along edges. "It was Saturday 10 March 1932. Although the Great Depression gripped Australia there was huge excitement on that day as Sydney and the rest of the country awaited the grand opening ceremony of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Jack Lang, the 'Red' Premier of New South Wales, eagerly approached the blue ribbon stretching across the bridge. He had offended King George V by insisting on opening the bridge himself. He had not only offered the King⦠Before Lang could cut the ribbon, Francis Edward De Groot, dressed in the uniform of the King's Hussars, galloped forward on his horse and sliced through the ribbon with his cavalry sabre. He declared the bridge open 'in the name of decent citizens of New South Wales'. This book puts De Groot's action in opening the bridge in its historical and political context. De Groot's exploit remains one of the strangest, most exciting and bizarre episodes in Australian history."