x, 222 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm
Contents
Machine derived contents note: Acknowledgements vii -- Notes x -- Abbreviations x -- Intfoduction 1 -- Chapter 1 -- A Dublin Childhood 7 -- Chapter 2 -- To Australia 21 -- Chapter 3 -- Fighting Man 34 -- Chapter 4 -- Furniture Man 43 -- Chapter 5 -- Street Fighting Man 56 -- Chapter 6 -- Opening the "De Groot Bridge" 82 -- Chapter 7 -- Debating the Legend 99 -- Chapter 8 -- Incarceration 124 -- Chapter 9 -- Toast of the town 136 -- Chapter 10 -- Calmer Waters 156 -- Chapter 11 -- Among the Reds 171 -- Epilogue 185 -- Legacy 201 -- Sources 208 -- Index 211
Summary
The first biography on Francis de Groot who became part of Australian folklore for his part in the opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge 1932. This story of the Bridge opening in all its colourful detail sheds new light on the bizarre circumstances that had brought New South Wales to the brink of civil war, and on de Groot himself