Richard Seddon: King of God's Own

Richard Seddon: King of God's Own

Author: Tom Brooking

Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited

Published: 2014-08-27

Total Pages: 976

ISBN-13: 1742539297

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

**2014 Must Read** Otago Daily Times 'The life, the health, the intelligence, and the morals of the nation count for more than riches, and I would rather have this country free from want and squalor and unemployed than the home of multi-millionaires.'—Richard Seddon, 1905 *** 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. *** 'The definitive biography of one of New Zealand's most influential political leaders.' —Paul Moon, author of New Zealand in the Twentieth Century 'King of God's Own is a nuanced and generous assessment of our most famous Premier, a man very much of his own time.' —Gavin McLean, co-editor of the bestselling Frontier of Dreams: The Story of New Zealand 'An excellent biography, and a major revision of an important period in this country's history.' —Barry Gustafson, acclaimed biographer of Sir Keith Holyoake, Sir Robert Muldoon and Michael Joseph Savage Also available as an eBook


Joseph Chamberlain

Joseph Chamberlain

Author: I. Cawood

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-04-08

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1137528850

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Winston Churchill described Joseph Chamberlain as 'the man who made the weather' for twenty years in British politics between the 1880s and the 1900s. This volume contains contributions on every aspect of Chamberlain's career, including international and cultural perspectives hitherto ignored by his many biographers. It breaks his career into three aspects: his career as an international statesman, defender of British interests and champion of imperial federation; his role as a national leader, opposing Gladstone's crusade for Irish home rule by forming an alliance with the Conservatives, campaigning for social reform and finally advocating a protectionist economic policy to promote British business; and the aspect for which he is still celebrated in his adopted city, as the provider of sanitation, gas lighting, clean water and cultural achievement for Birmingham – a model of civic regeneration that still inspires modern politicians such as Michael Heseltine, Tristram Hunt and David Willetts.


People, Power, and Law

People, Power, and Law

Author: Alexander Gillespie

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-05-05

Total Pages: 641

ISBN-13: 1509931627

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book offers a unique insight into the key legal and social issues at play in New Zealand today. Tackling the most pressing issues, it tracks the evolution of these societal problems from 1840 to the present day. Issues explored include: illegal drugs; racism; the position of women; the position of Maori and free speech and censorship. Through these issues, the authors track New Zealand's evolution to one of the most famously liberal and tolerant societies in the world.


Political Life Writing in the Pacific

Political Life Writing in the Pacific

Author: Jack Corbett

Publisher: ANU Press

Published: 2015-07-29

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 1925022617

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book aims to reflect on the experiential side of writing political lives in the Pacific region. The collection touches on aspects of the life writing art that are particularly pertinent to political figures: public perception and ideology; identifying important political successes and policy initiatives; grappling with issues like corruption and age-old political science questions about leadership and ‘dirty hands’. These are general themes but they take on a particular significance in the Pacific context and so the contributions explore these themes in relation to patterns of colonisation and the memory of independence; issues elliptically captured by terms like ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’; the nature of ‘self’ presented in Pacific life writing; and the tendency for many of these texts to be written by ‘outsiders’, or at least the increasingly contested nature of what that term means.


Becoming Aotearoa

Becoming Aotearoa

Author: Michael Belgrave

Publisher: Massey University Press

Published: 2024-10-10

Total Pages: 948

ISBN-13: 199101662X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the first major national history of Aotearoa New Zealand to be published for 20 years, Professor Michael Belgrave advances the notion that New Zealand's two peoples — tangata whenua and subsequent migrants — have together built an open, liberal society based on a series of social contracts. Frayed though they may sometimes be, these contracts have created a country that is distinct. This engaging new look at our history examines how.


A History of New Zealand in 100 Objects

A History of New Zealand in 100 Objects

Author: Jock Phillips

Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited

Published: 2022-10-18

Total Pages: 716

ISBN-13: 1761047221

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Authored by award-winning historian Jock Phillips, The History of New Zealand in 100 Objects is gripping, inclusive, often revelatory and deeply human. A colourful and characterful retelling of our shared past, relevant to today, particular to all of us. The sewing kete of an unknown 18th-century Maori woman; the Endeavour cannons that fired on waka in 1769; the bagpipes of an Irish publican Paddy Galvin; the school uniform of Harold Pond, a Napier Tech pupil in the Hawke’s Bay quake; the Biko shields that tried to protect protestors during the Springbok tour in 1981; Winston Reynolds’ remarkable home-made Hokitika television set, the oldest working TV in the country; the soccer ball that was a tribute to Tariq Omar, a victim of the Christchurch Mosque shootings, and so many more – these are items of quiet significance and great personal meaning, taonga carrying stories that together represent a dramatic, full-of-life history for everyday New Zealanders.


Different Lives

Different Lives

Author: Hans Renders

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-06-15

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 9004434976

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Internationally acclaimed biographies are almost always written by British or American biographers. But what is the state of the art of biography in other parts of the world? Introduced by Richard Holmes, the volume Different Lives offers a global perspective: seventeen scholars vividly describe the biographical tradition in their countries of interest. They show how biography functions as a public genre, featuring specific societal issues and opinion-making. Indeed, the volume aims to answer the question: how can biography contribute to a better understanding of differences between societies and cultures? Special attention is given to the US, China and the Netherlands. Other contributions are on Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Iran, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and South Africa. "This book represents a much needed breakdown of the history and current status of Biography Studies throughout the world. Any educator teaching a course in higher education that includes Biography Studies should definitely consider this as a major text for inclusion." Billy Tooma, film maker and Assistant Professor, Wessex County College "The rise of biography is the literary event of our time; Hamilton and Renders are its pioneer scholars, and their compelling primer is a must read." Joanny Moulin, Institut Universitaire de France, on Nigel Hamilton and Hans Renders, in: The ABC of Modern Biography (2018) See inside the book


Our First Foreign War

Our First Foreign War

Author: Nigel Robson

Publisher: Massey University Press

Published: 2021-04-08

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0995122911

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Foreshadowing our unseemly haste to fight for King and Country in 1914, New Zealanders were enthusiastic supporters of the colonial war between Britainand the Boers when it was declared in 1899. The country welcomed the chanceto prove itself and its loyalty to the British Empire on an international stage. Ourcontribution was small — just 6500 troops sent to fight — but our response tothe conflict was on a grander scale. In an outpouring of patriotic sentiment, manythousands followed the stories of the sieges of Mafeking, Kimberley and Ladysmith. There was memorabilia everywhere, and it seemed as if everyone was either raising funds or joining cadet corps, including many women and girls.Little has been written of this important period in New Zealand's history. This isthe first book to offer a finely grained analysis of the nation's perceptions andexpectations of the war, Maori responses to the conflict, the effect of war-relateddeaths, injuries and disease on the country, and its economic impact. It alsodemonstrates that the building of our national identity through military engagementbegan well before Gallipoli and the Western Front.


People and Place

People and Place

Author: Len Richardson

Publisher: ANU Press

Published: 2020-05-04

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1760463450

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book traces the enduring relationship between history, people and place that has shaped the character of a single region in a manner perhaps unique within the New Zealand experience. It explores the evolution of a distinctive regional literature that both shaped and was shaped by the physical and historical environment that inspired it. Looking westwards towards Australia and long shut off within New Zealand by the South Island’s rugged Southern Alps, the West Coast was a land of gold, coal and timber. In the 1950s and 1960s, it nurtured a literature that embodied a sense of belonging to an Australasian world and captured the aspirations of New Zealand’s emergent radical nationalism. More recent West Coast writers, observing the hollowing out of their communities, saw in miniature and in advance the growing gulf between city and regional economies aligned to an older economic order losing its relevance. Were they chronicling the last hurrah of a retreating age or crafting a literature of regional resistance?


Continuous Ferment

Continuous Ferment

Author: Greg Ryan

Publisher: Auckland University Press

Published: 2023-11-09

Total Pages: 688

ISBN-13: 1776711157

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Since the first brew by Captain James Cook and the crew of the Resolution at Dusky Sound in April 1773, the story of beer has been deeply intertwined with the history of Aotearoa &– from the early settlers' prodigious consumption of golden ale to the six o' clock swill, from prohibition to the &‘ Black Budget' , from the domination of Lion and DB to the rise of craft beer.In this remarkable story of New Zealanders and beer, Greg Ryan tackles the big questions: Why did people drink and did they do so excessively by contemporary international standards? What did people drink and in what circumstances? How did tastes change over time? What role did brewers and publicans play in the community, other than as dispensers of alcohol?Richly illustrated, astute and entertaining, Continuous Ferment is both a fascinating analysis of New Zealand' s social history and a book for anyone with an enthusiasm for malt and hops, barrels and bottles, pilsners and porters.