Books about New Zealand

Commonwealth Cruisers 1939-45, Angus Konstam . Looks at the cruisers that fought with the navies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada during the Second World War, playing a part in the Pacific, Atlantic and Mediterranean theatres. Focuses heavily on the navies and the ships themselves rather than their operational histories, so good if you want to know what the Dominions had, less so if you want to know what they did. Supported by excellent photos and illustrations.  [read full review]

Maori Fortifications, Ian Knight. This book looks at a relatively unknown topic – the Pa fortifications built by the Maori from pre-colonial times to the end of the 1860s. The book looks at the fortifications themselves and the part they played in the Maori Musket Wars and the New Zealand Wars, fought between the Maori and the British. The book charts the evolution of the Pa from the pre-gunpowder era, where they were typified by multiple lines of palisades and ditches, through the era of the 'gunfighter Pa', which produced a number of fortifications so well adapted to the use of the musket that they were able to resist attack by British regular troops, and into the final period of construction, where the Pa began to resemble contemporary European and American redoubts. Knight has produced a well organised book that clearly tracks the relationship between attacker and defender in the evolution of the Pa, something not always made clear in works on fortifications [see more]