Book review: The Men Who United the States, by Simon Winchester
Subscriber contentBy Gavin McLean in Books
Issue 3841 12th Dec 2013
Simon Winchester tells the stories of the men who “made” his new home, the US.
The Making of New Zealanders by Ron Palenski review
By Gavin McLean in Books
Issue 3770 11th Aug 2012
Ron Palenski argues a sense of New Zealandness started to emerge earlier than many believe.
New Zealand in the Twentieth Century review
By Gavin McLean in Books
Issue 3731 12th Nov 2011
Paul Moon avoids “overarching claims” and literary fireworks to produce a good solid history.
A Great New Zealand Prime Minister? Reappraising William Ferguson Massey
By Gavin McLean in Books
Issue 3725 1st Oct 2011
A collection of nine essays about our second-longest-serving prime minister finds his achievements impress.
The Silence Beyond: Selected Writings by Michael King review
By Gavin McLean in Books
Issue 3711 25th Jun 2011
In a 1977 essay, Michael King called himself “the survivor of a dying breed: the sympathetic Pakeha journalist who for a time specialised in writing about Maori things in the footsteps of Rusdens, Cow
Civilization: the West and the rest
By Gavin McLean in Books
Issue 3702 18th Apr 2011
With its edgy populism, strong conservatism and ability to annoy as well as delight, Niall Ferguson’s Civilization is never dull.
Before the pen fell silent
By Gavin McLean in Books
Issue 3698 26th Mar 2011
A third of a century of essays from historian Judith Binney.
Seeing the Best in him
By Gavin McLean in Books
Issue 3658 19th Jun 2010
A re-examination of colonial ethnographer Elsdon Best refuses to dismiss him out of hand.
Complicating, not simplifying
By Gavin McLean in Books
Issue 3637 23rd Jan 2010
Those with stamina will find much of interest in this new history of New Zealand.