The New Zealand Wars (The NZ Series)

This is not the type of book that would be plucked from our library shelves by our pupils to read for pleasure. However, our senior teachers considered it to be a great resource to teach the history curriculum and would be even more valuable if it could be accompanied by a resource book containing questions and activities.

My prior knowledge of the New Zealand Wars was very limited and I must admit that after reading this book I do not think I have learned much more, as I am unlikely to retain the information I read. I found it rather 'dry' and uninteresting. This may be due to it being a concise guide, and therefore the facts were given with little elaboration. The one account that did interest me related to the death of Alice Wilson, and probably appealed because it gave further details which added depth for the reader.

I was surprised that there was no glossary. However, this may be because there were text boxes on some pages explaining some of the vocabulary. I found these boxes rather inconsistent though as some did not appear on the page where a word was introduced, but on the following page. Also, some text boxes gave details relating to things not mentioned in the text (eg Enfield, mokomai and carronade) and these were sometimes therefore more distracting than helpful; especially as the main body of text continued over the page and the reader was unsure when to read the text box without disrupting the flow of the main text. Some of the text boxes contained images, which was valuable, but others did not. I was surprised that the explanation in the text box about the Cohorn mortar stated that it was "A relatively light-weight mortar", without explaining what a mortar is. There is no image to refer to, and all that can be gleaned from the body of the text was that it was "a weapon ideal for dealing with fortifications." As to what type of weapon, you need to look this up in a dictionary if you wish to find out.

In conclusion, this book would be best utilised in a classroom situation with directed reading and discussion rather than an independent read. Over 70 photos and historical paintings are included. Some sample pages can be found on the publishers website here.

Title: The New Zealand Wars (The NZ Series)

Author: Matthew Wright

Publisher: Oratia Books

ISBN: 978-0-947506-93-3

RRP: $29.99

Format: Paperback

Publication: July 2021 (first published 2006, Second edition 2014)

Ages: 12+

Do you have any advisory warnings for this book? Killings are mentioned (including a few details) as is to be expected in a book about the wars

Reviewer: Nadine Molloy, Library Assistant, Remarkables Primary School, Queenstown

How are you recommending this book? Recommended for classroom use with teacher guidance

Opening sentence: The New Zealand Wars began in 1845 and lasted, broadly, for a generation.

You can buy this book here