Stolen Books
When it comes to AI, call me a sceptic. It doesn’t help that five of my books were illegally downloaded by Anthropic for AI ‘training’ purposes according to...
The Treaty of Waitangi Companion
I am pleased to share the news that a new edition of The Treaty of Waitangi Companion will be published by Bridget Williams Books this November. To pre-order...
The 1882 Petition to England
In 1882 three rangatira from northern New Zealand travelled to London on an explicitly political mission. They had been selected by Ngāpuhi to convey a...
NZ Wars: Stories of Waerenga-a-Hika
Last Saturday I travelled up to Tāmaki Makaurau to attend the premiere of NZ Wars: Stories of Waerenga-a-Hika at the iconic Capitol Cinema on Dominion Road...
Evicting Māori: Grey’s 9 July 1863 Proclamation
On 9 July 1863 a proclamation was issued by the government addressed to 'the natives of Mangere, Pukaki, Ihumatao, Te Kirikiri, Patumahoe, Pokeno, and...
Mangatū Forest: A Story of Environmental Destruction and Land Loss
A recent story in Newsroom discussed a protracted legal case from the Tairāwhiti region involving the efforts of local Māori to have a piece of land returned...
New Zealand Gazette Index
Back in 2022, when Archives New Zealand released its disastrous Collections search tool, many researchers despaired (or called for an inquiry). Collections...
George Grey’s ‘Plan of Native Government’
Over the years I have spent a fair bit of time researching Māori institutions of self-government, particularly in the nineteenth century. My first book, way...
The Waitangi Tribunal: Leading Conversations on Te Tiriti o Waitangi
The Waitangi Tribunal turned fifty last October, marking a half century since the passage of the Treaty of Waitangi Act in 1975. I posted about this at the...
Stranded in England
In The Meeting Place: Māori and Pākehā Encounters, 1642-1840 (republished in a new edition by Bridget Wiliams Books last year) one of the topics I explored...
Garrison World Roundtable Event
I am taking part in a roundtable event at the Stout Research Centre on 6 May to discuss Charlotte Macdonald’s excellent recent book Garrison World: Redcoat...
The Aotearoa Flag
In the early hours of 13 December 1863 the Forest Rangers No. 1 Company, led by Lieutenant William Jackson, attacked a Māori camp at Paparātā during bush-...
A Road Runs Through It: Ōrākau After 1864
Ōrākau Pā was attacked by Crown forces on 31 March 1864. On this anniversary of the battle, I discuss the history of what became of the Ōrākau site after...
Te Kōhia (17 March 1860) and the First Taranaki War
Today marks the anniversary of the battle of Te Kōhia that took place at Waitara on 17 March 1860, marking the start of the first, year-long Taranaki War and...
Auckland Writers Festival 2026
Auckland Writers Festival this week released its programme for its 2026 festival this May, featuring a stellar lineup of international and local authors. I...
Robin Hyde and Ōrākei (Part II)
In December I brought you Robin Hyde’s July 1937 piece ‘Who Says the Orakei Maoris Must Go?’. For this second and final instalment I have copied and...
Remembering Rangiaowhia
On 21 February 1864 Crown forces attacked the settlement of Rangiaowhia. On the anniversary of that attack, this piece explains what happened that day and...
Waitangi Day
I was honoured to be invited to be the keynote speaker at Waitangi Day commemorations in Te Matau-a-Māui Hawke's Bay last year hosted by the Waipureku...
Second Public Talk: Auckland and the Invasion of Waikato
I recently posted about a public talk I was giving at Devonport Library during my residency at the Michael King Writers Centre. That talk filled up very...
Nelson Tenths
In December 2025 the Crown and Te Tau Ihu iwi leaders announced a settlement of a long-running legal case involving the Crown’s failure to allocate ‘Nelson...