This work investigates the 1808 overthrow of Governor William Bligh by the New South Wales Corps, questioning the legitimacy of the military coup and the subsequent political fallout. Herbert Vere Evatt, a distinguished jurist and politician, utilizes his legal expertise to re-examine the historical records surrounding the conflict between the colonial administration and the powerful Rum Corps. He argues that the rebellion was not merely a local dispute over trade, but a significant constitutional crisis that tested the limits of authority in the early Australian penal colony.

This text is regarded as a seminal, if partisan, legalistic interpretation of a pivotal moment in Australian colonial history. The author's background as a High Court judge provides a unique, albeit argumentative, lens that prioritizes constitutional precedent and the formal mechanisms of power.