Harry Hodgetts

From 'Big Shot' to 'Swindler'. From 'palatial two-storey Kensington Park home' to 'the cold cells of Adelaide Gaol'. Racier newspapers gloated when Harry Hodgetts was convicted of fraud and false pretences in September 1945.

Hodgetts was Adelaide's leading stockbroker, with 4000 clients, including a governor and governor-general. He gave outstanding service to lacrosse and cricket, educational institutions and the Royal Institute for the Blind but he is best remembered as the man who struck a deal to have the young Don Bradman move to Adelaide, play cricket for South Australia and work part-time in his office.

How did things go so wrong for Hodgetts? With his wealth of historical knowledge, John Davis has written the complex and riveting story of this hard-working, gifted social climber, his fall into bankruptcy and a prison cell, and the scandal that haunted Bradman's reputation.