Michael King (1) (1945–2004)

This book gives a nice and brief overview of the history of New Zealand. Especially the early chapters on New Zealand's pre-history and Maori settlement are quite enlightening. However, most of the topics are treated somewhat superficially and if you are interested in a more in-depth history of New Zealand's places and people, you will have to find further material. This book is merely an excellent introduction for someone who has never given thought to Kiwi history. It is certainly helpful in advance of a visit to Aotearoa.… (meer)

With such a small area and short timespan to cover, it felt possible to hold the entire story in my head at one time. This meant that I felt viscerally the surprise of the Moriori after centuries without contact and the tragedy of their fate. It also engendered a huge admiration of the adaptability of the Moriori to their environment and of their commitment to the pacifist principle of Nunuku's Law in the face of the severest possible test.

The photos and letters were well-chosen to show the personalities of the Moriori, Maori, and Europeans alike, and they never lapsed into illustration for illustration's sake.

Also, the anecdote about the hapless French sailors who tried to lock the Maori travelling with them below the deck was genuinely hilarious.… (meer)

This is a good narrative history of New Zealand. Its well written and manages to cover the material in a pretty balanced way. I enjoyed the way King explained the geological background and timescales. He also manages not to stay too aloof and general - I enjoyed the material on Thomas Russell for example and his cavalier capitalism at a time when the nation was beginning to really be built.
I'm sure there are parts that will annoy people of most political persuasions. Any material that deals with the relationship between the government and Maori in the nineteenth century is bound to annoy right wingers, and likewise the politically correct academia and Maori activists of the present might have seen red over his assessment of how in the span of time and our relationship with this place all New Zealand have become tangata whenua.
King avoids the awful tendency of many historians to patronise or judge the past (the 'we're so enlightened now' attitude). He is remarkably balanced - not too much of a cheerleader for the Savage government like some histories which seem to think Labour ended the Depression, for example.
Overall a good read for anyone with some interest in New Zealand's history and wanting a good overarching framework for understanding where we have come from.… (meer)