The Musket Wars

Hailed on its publication as among the most important works of New Zealand history of the twentieth century, The Musket Wars sold out of its hardback print-run and is now issued in a paperback edition. The Musket Wars records in graphic detail how the arrival of the musket and new food sources led to a wave of conflicts that engulfed most parts of New Zealand between 1806 and 1845, leaving tens of thousands of Maori killed, wounded or displaced. Entire districts were depopulated and tribal boundaries were redrawn. Yet to the victors went the spoils: the Treaty of Waitangi acknowledged tribal boundaries as they existed in 1840. The wars thus have ongoing relevance to the entire Waitangi Tribunal process, a fact that has not been sufficiently addressed by most claims. Ron Crosby has written an accurate and complete historical account that also brings to life the human drama of these brutal and unremitting wars. New to this paperback edition is a list of information sources relating to particular iwi. This is the first comprehensive history of the Musket Wars. The paperback edition includes new list of sources relating to iwi.
There are 43 maps of campaigns (six in colour), and over 80 reproductions (many in colour) of battle scenes, leading participants, and period landscapes.