A re-issue of noted Maori historian James Cowan's classic work from 1934, Tales of the Maori Bush is a lively and accessible collection of 30 stories from early New Zealand which present, in Cowan's own words, 'the alternating humour and tragedy of life, approached from the sympathetic angle of a lifelong close friendship with the Maori people, who are as much my own people my Pakeha fellow-countrymen are.' Included are stories about fairies and wizardy, romance, bushmen, goats, Te Kooti's war-party, treasure hunts, battles, adventures, old country life and more. This book of tales was the first ever 'secular' publication produced by Reed Publishing. With a contextualizing introduction by Dr Alex Calder of the University of Auckland, whose specialist subject area is first-contact NZ literature.