Vincent O'Malley

Fantastic and much needed book about this important part of New Zealand history. I read it as research for my post on East Pukekohe Church.

Vincent provides a very readable account of the war including both its lead up and the fallout afterward. He has gone to great lengths to furnish the Maori perspective which has long been missing from our collective memory. It's especially important in that it helps to understand why there is still a sense of anger and unfairness, and why Ihumatao for example is such an important issue.

Unfortunately it does make hard going at some points, only because the content is so confronting. In the end this is the story of a great injustice, and the victims were never to see things put right.

Perhaps one day we will be able to add another chapter, and give this book a happier ending.… (altro)

Winner of the 2022 NZ Book Awards Ockham Prize for General Non-Fiction:

“Vincent O’Malley’s book meets all the criteria for a great work of non-fiction. It is the fruit of close historical research and accessible to a wide readership. It tells us of the past but is relevant to the present when public debate feeds New Zealanders’ hunger to know how our country was formed. It is nuanced in its balance of both Māori and Pakeha voices and it respects the attitudes and assumptions of people who lived in an era different from our own. In bringing together these voices, O’Malley creates a coherent history of the New Zealand Wars, gives greater attention to wahine than earlier historians have, and deals carefully with contested events. The excellent book production is a credit to the publishers.”… (altro)