Suchergebnisse

Casting a long shadow over New Zealand history, Richard John Seddon, Premier from 1893 to his untimely death in 1906, held a clear vision for the country he led. Pushing New Zealand in more egalitarian directions than ever before, he was both the builder and the maintenance man . .if not the architect . .of our country. Challenging popular opinion of New Zealand's longest-serving Prime Minister as a ruthless pragmatist, cunning misogynist and Imperialistic jingoist, this landmark biography of Seddon presents an altogether more sympathetic, erudite appraisal. Reconciling two generations of New Zealand scholarship, Richard Seddon: King of God's Own demonstrates that, while holding fast to common ideals, Seddon was successful by mastering the art of the possible. He knew instinctively what his electorate would tolerate and remained in step with public opinion. Despite contradictions in his attitudes towards other races, he fought to ensure privilege did not become entrenched in what he envisioned as a white man's utopia. In this perceptive new evaluation, political historian Tom Brooking explains Seddon's complex relationship with Maori and shows how he in fact held a progressively bi-cultural vision for the future of 'God's Own Country'. Seddon was no saint. Somewhat autocratic and given to petty nepotism, he nevertheless remains the most dominant political leader in our country's history. Internationally, his high profile within the Empire helped put New Zealand on the map. Domestically, he sought a middle ground between free-market extremism and full-blown socialism. And more privately, Seddon was a devoted family man, his actions shaped much more by his supportive wife and assertive daughters than has previously been realised. Richard Seddon: King of God's Own is a superlative achievement in New Zealand history writing. Absorbing, wide-ranging and beautifully articulated, it reframes and repositions one of the founding fathers of modern New Zealand.

Abstract
This article will be divided into four parts. First, it will traverse the surprisingly rich historiography on Richard Seddon's efforts to establish a New Zealand sub-Empire in the Pacific. Most commentary has been relatively benign, especially that resulting from the many theses written in my own department, at the University of Otago, under Angus Ross in the 1960s. In the 1980s these adventures began to be viewed more critically by the likes of Dick Scott and Malama Meleisea. General histories of the Pacific, though, such as those written by Kerry Howe and Ian Campbell, have tended to ignore Seddon and other leading New Zealand politicians who dreamed of a sub-Empire in the Pacific, such as George Grey, Robert Stout and John Ballance. More recently, Damon Salesa, as one of the first indigenous historians of the Pacific, has judged Seddon's efforts in particular, and New Zealand's record in general, rather more harshly. So too, have scholars in anthropology, especially those influenced by postcolonial theory.
Second, I will tell the story of how New Zealand only managed to gain control of the Cook Islands and Niue, even though Seddon hoped to govern Western Samoa and Fiji, and, potentially, Tonga, the New Hebrides and Hawai'i. Third, I will explain how utilizing the insights of the decidedly middle-aged 'new' Imperial history might provide a better sense of context, especially in terms of Seddon's efforts at trying to build a 'better Britain' while expanding the 'British world'. Fourth, the problem remains that the success or failure of the New Zealand effort requires some comparative or transnational analysis to discover if the most remote British colony fared better or worse than other major Empires in the Pacific. The most obvious comparison is with the other sub-Imperial power – Australia – and I will suggest some ways in which such a comparison might be made, as well as discuss Seddon's views of the efforts of his trans-Tasman neighbour in comparison with his own.

A critical review of the book 'Hunting: A New Zealand History' by Kate Hunter. Review(s) of: Hunting: A New Zealand History, by Kate Hunter, Random House, Auckland, 2009, 320 pp. ISBN 9781869791544.

Sir John McKenzie (1838-1901) was a highly influential Minister of Lands from 1891 to 1900 who promulgated the cause of the small settler landholder and initiated legislation to break up the larger estates. In his youth he had witnessed the misery caused by the Highland landlords evicting their tenants, before his emigration to Dunedin in 1860. In this article Tom Brooking gives a preview of his forthcoming somewhat unusual political biography.

Sir John McKenzie (1838-1901) was a highly influential Minister of Lands from 1891 to 1900 who promulgated the cause of the small settler landholder and initiated legislation to break up the larger estates. In his youth he had witnessed the misery caused by the Highland landlords evicting their tenants, before his emigration to Dunedin in 1860. In this article Tom Brooking gives a preview of his forthcoming somewhat unusual political biography.

Front Cover -- Title Page -- Half Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Contributors -- Preface -- 1 Introduction: Eric Pawson and Tom Brooking -- Part I Encounters -- 2 A fragile plenty: pre-European Māori and the New Zealand environment: Atholl Anderson -- 3 Contesting resources: Māori, Pākehā and a tenurial revolution: Evelyn Stokes -- 4 Resource frontiers, environment and settler capitalism, 1769-1860: Jim McAloon -- Part II Colonising -- 5 Settlers transforming the open country: Robert Peden and Peter Holland -- 6 Mining the quarry: Terry Hearn -- 7 Destruction under the guise of improvement? The forest, 1840-1920: Graeme Wynn -- Part III Wild places -- 8 Children of the burnt bush: New Zealanders and the indigenous remnant, 1880-1930: Paul Star and Lynne Lochhead -- 9 The meanings of mountains: Eric Pawson -- 10 'Swamps which might doubtless Easily be drained': swamp drainage and its impact on the indigenous: Geoff Park -- Part IV Modernising -- 11 The grasslands revolution reconsidered: Tom Brooking and Vaughan Wood -- 12 An interventionist state: 'wise use' forestry and soil conservation Michael Roche -- 13 On the edge: making urban places: Eric Pawson -- 14 The empire of the rhododendron: reorienting New Zealand garden history: James Beattie -- Part V Perspectives -- 15 Postcolonial environments: Katie Pickles -- 16 An updated history of New Zealand environmental law: Nicola Wheen -- 17 Ngāi Tahu and the 'nature' of Māori modernity -- 18 Mastering the land: mapping and metrologies in Aotearoa New Zealand: Andreas Aagaard Christensen -- 19 Epilogue: Eric Pawson and Tom Brooking -- Notes -- Glossary of Maori terms -- Index.