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THE COLONIAL NEW ZEALAND WARS - REVIEW - Book review of The Colonial New Zealand Wars. Review © Darcy Waters 2003
“The Colonial New Zealand Wars” Looks at the New Zealand wars in roughly chronological order. Why I am including a review for it here on a website about our built military heritage is because not only does this book look at the people and events of the New Zealand Wars but it also looks at the fortifications and weapons employed by both sides. Until reading this book I didn’t realize how elaborate some of the Maori fortifications were. In some Pa trenches were dug inside the palisade for the defenders to stand in while shooting through loopholes in the palisades. Tauranga-Ika Pa, at Waitotara in 1869 even had not only a network of trenches within the Pa but also a watch-tower and covered-ways. The Pa that the book mentions are ones in the north island where battles took place between the Maori and Government forces. There are many more that existed but were not mentioned. However we should not forget that this book doesn’t set out to focus on Pa or artillery but rather about the Colonial New Zealand Wars while looking at Pa, artillery and the effects of the Maori acquiring guns as this book progresses through the wars. This is the second revised edition of the book. The first was published in 1986. It has illustrations on most pages that are reproductions of period photos or drawings. There are also a number of diagrams showing maps and cross sections of Pa. There are also twelve pages of colour plates showing uniforms and photos of re-enactors wearing period uniforms with period equipment.
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© Copyright Darcy Waters 1999-2003 |
