Author(s): Gordon McLauchlan

NZ History

Fascinating anecdotes from New Zealand history. Who really did 'discover' New Zealand? Why history has turned its back on the timid Abel Tasman. The burning of the sailing ship Boyd sets back European settlement by a decade. The enduring love affair between Eliza and Governor William Hobson. A surreal battle at Gate Pa in the Land Wars. Who were the real villains at Parihaka? The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming. No rowdiness, no horseplay, when women vote for the first time. The Dog Tax and the last Maori armed uprising. The Great White Fleet - the American Navy visits in 1908. A future Prime Minister is jailed for 'agitating' in 1916. Kiwi lads die in the 'deep grey mud' at Passchendaele in 1917. The 6 o'clock swill down the pub and its 'disgusting culture'. The extraordinary feats of Jean Batten. John A. Lee is fired from the Labour Party in 1940. Dozens die in a massacre at a prisoner of war camp for Japanese in the Wairarapa. Gordon McLauchlan is one of New Zealand's leading writers. He has been reading New Zealand history for half a century and has written countless books, newspaper stories, columns, and magazine articles. His many books include A Short History of New Zealand.