While Dragging Our Hearts Behind Us
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Trading Blows
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£26.24
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£34.99
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Trading Blows
What Drove the Musket Wars
Sale price
£26.24
Regular price
£34.99
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The period of early European contact with Maori from 1806 to 1845 has come to be known as the Musket Wars. But as Matthew Wright writes, there were many factors besides muskets at play in the to-and-fro of utu (revenge) that ravaged Maori society, causing death and displacement on a massive scale.
Analysing the full range of battles that erupted with early settling of scores by Hongi Hika and Ngapuhi in the Far North, and extended deep into the South Island through the ruthless campaigns of Te Rauparaha, Trading Blows investigates what lay at their cause. As such it is not a military history, but focuses on the far-reaching social changes driven by an economic revolution.
Incisively written, with helpful maps, this is an important contribution to historical writing about events that fundamentally shaped New Zealand physically and politically, feeding into the race relations and economic conditions of today.
Matthew Wright is the author of over 60 books on topics ranging from history to science and engineering, for all ages. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His books include Ernest Rutherford and the Birth of Modern Physics (Oratia Books and Scribe, 2025); the Bateman Illustrated History of New Zealand; Freyberg, a Life's Journey, the biography of Bernard Freyberg; and the popular introductory book The New Zealand Wars. Matthew lives in Wellington, New Zealand (see matthewwright.net).
- ISBN-13
- 9781991353023
- Publisher
- Oratia Books
- Imprint
- Oratia Books
- Publication date
- 22 October 2026
- Format
- Paperback
- Pages
- 232
- Dimensions
- 240 x 160 mm
- Language
- English
