Fatal Frontiers: A New History of New Zealand in the Decade Before the Treaty

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Penguin Books, 2006 - History - 256 pages
A fascinating new account of New Zealand in the colourful and pivotal 1830s. Some of the most interesting and important events in New Zealand history took place in the 1830s. In this period the French almost beat the British to claim New Zealand, aggressive English merchants were applying pressure on the country's natural resources, and growing numbers of European settlers were beginning to demand land. Meanwhile, Maori were still heavily in the majority and starting to explore commercial opportunities. But there was turmoil everywhere. Intertribal warfare raged, while many tribes were trying to decide how to accommodate the Europeans in their midst. Historian Paul Moon demonstrates it is wrong to regard the 1830s as simply an inevitable lead-up to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. For those people in New Zealand at the time, there was no such certainty. What would happen as the decade closed was far from obvious, and as Fatal Frontiers shows, this turbulent period deserves consideration in its own right.

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Contents

Introduction
7
UNNATURAL BOUNDARIES
43
UNRAVAGED WEALTH
61
Copyright

4 other sections not shown

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About the author (2006)

Paul Moon was born in 1968 in New Zealand. He is a professor at the Auckland University of Technology. He is also a writer of New Zealand history and biography specialising in Maori history. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Studies, a Master of Philosophy degree, a Master of Arts degree and a Doctor of Philosophy. He is recognised for his research of the Treaty of Waitangi and has written two books about it. He has also produced the biographies of Governors William Hobson and Robert FitzRoy, and the Nga Puhi chief Hone Heke. In June 2014, Moon was shortlisted for the Ernest Scott Prize in History. In 2015 he made the New Zealand Best Seller List with his title Face to Face which he co-authored with Jane Ussher.

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