The first complete account of the various attempts to map New Zealand prior to 1773, spanning continents, peoples, empires and professions.
Paul Moon Book order
Paul Moon is a distinguished historian whose extensive work delves into pivotal moments and cultures of New Zealand. He explores complex histories and societal interactions, focusing on periods of early contact and the formation of national identity. His publications often challenge established myths and uncover lesser-known aspects of New Zealand life and history. Moon's style is both analytical and engaging, offering readers a deeper comprehension of the past.
- 2024
- 2023
A Draught of the South Land
- 240 pages
- 9 hours of reading
The emergence of New Zealand's map unfolds through a captivating historical narrative, detailing how fragmented charts and intelligence circulated globally for 150 years before the first complete map was published in London in 1773. Paul Moon offers a thorough exploration of this gradual and intricate process, shedding light on the contributions and influences that shaped the cartographic representation of the islands.
- 2021
The book presents a groundbreaking perspective on Britain's colonisation of New Zealand, challenging traditional moral judgments associated with the event. It delves into the motivations driving Britain's imperial ambitions, examining them within a broader global framework as well as their specific implications for New Zealand. Through this analysis, it seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding colonisation and its lasting impacts.
- 2020
The Rise and Fall of James Busby
- 368 pages
- 13 hours of reading
One of the British Empire's most troubling colonial exports in the 19th-century, James Busby is known as the father of the Australian wine industry, the author of New Zealand's Declaration of Independence and a central figure in the early history of independent New Zealand as its British Resident from 1833 to 1840. Officially the man on the ground for the British government in the volatile society of New Zealand in the 1830s, Busby endeavoured to create his own parliament and act independently of his superiors in London. This put him on a collision course with the British Government, and ultimately destroyed his career. With a reputation as an inept, conceited and increasingly embittered person, this caricature of Busby's character has slipped into the historical bloodstream where it remains to the present day. This book draws on an extensive range of previously-unused archival records to reconstruct Busby's life in much more intimate form, and exposes the back-room plotting that ultimately destroyed his plans for New Zealand. It will alter the way that Britain's colonisation of New Zealand is understood, and will leave readers with an appreciation of how individuals, more than policies, shaped the Empire and its rule