July 29, 2014
Pocket overview of NZ Wars
The author of a new book on the New Zealand Wars says he wants to give people a pocket overview so they can see the way the wars of 150 years ago shape New Zealand today.
Matthew Wright says as well as battle fields that now lie unnoticed and unmemorialisd, the placing of many towns and cities was done for a strategic military purpose.
There were also culture changes, as the settlers shaped a narrative that suited their view of the world.
"There was a great mythology built after the wars in the 19th century, a mythology about race relations that was actually not true but it became the way Pakeha New Zealand saw itself into the mid to late 20th century. We need to know and understand how that worked and what it means for us today," he says.
Matthew Wright says many of the injustices that triggered the wars, and others that were generated by them, have still to be resolved.
The New Zealand Wars: A Brief History is published by Oratia Media.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW WRIGHT CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjA1NzU=
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