Gilbert Mair: Te Kooti's Nemesis

This is a second-hand copy of the book Gilbert Mair: Te Kooti's Nemesis by Ron Crosby.

About the book:

Gilbert Mair was one of the stand-out figures of nineteenth and early twentieth-century New Zealand. He is best known as a soldier, but he was also a surveyor, land purchase agent and government interpreter, roles that have led some to regard him with suspicion and disapproval. He was one of the very few Pakeha to lead a Maori fighting unit, commanding the No. 1 Arawa Flying Column, with whom he years in the pursuit of the elusive Te Kooti.

Mair was also a farmer, collector and botanist, and he had a knowledge of te reo and tikanga that was unrivalled among Pakeha. He was one of the first people to visit Mt Tarawera after the disastrous eruption of 10 June 1886, and he played a significant part in organising relief for its victims. He was present at Parihaka in 1881, belatedly awarded the New Zealand Cross in 1886, and in 1902 was appointed the first superintendent of the Maori Councils of New Zealand, whose aim was to improve living standards for Maori.

Ron Crosby tells Mair's story in a way that allows us to appreciate the drama, the hardships, the personal joy and sadness, and the paradoxes that arise when we view these events with the perceptions of the twenty-first century. In his words: It must be lamented that we have allowed these extraordinarily colourful characters, who played such a crucial role in the frontier conflicts, to simply disappear from our national consciousness. A knowledge of these men, and the stirring events in which they were involved, brings our countryside and our history alive.

ISBN: 0790009692
Conditin: used (good)
Pages: 352