Antipodean soldiers and writers, meat carcasses and moa, British films and Kiwi tourists—throughout the last 150 years, people, objects and ideas have gone back and forth between New Zealand and London, defining and redefining the relationship between this country and the colonial center that many New Zealanders once called home. Exploring the relationship between a colony and its metropolis from Wakefield to the Wombles, it answers questions, including How did New Zealanders define themselves in relation to the center of British culture? and How did New Zealanders view London when they walked through King's Cross or saw the city in movies? By focusing on particular themes—from agricultural marketing to expatriate writers—this discussion develops a larger story about the construction of colonial and national identities.

An outstanding and ambitious contribution to New Zealand and imperial history... Barnes’ analysis of the dynamic relationship between colony and metropolis is compelling and sophisticated... A thoughtful reconsideration of a cultural past New Zealanders have often disowned . . . - History Australia, Vol 12, 1, 2015 A major contribution to scholarship that should remain a touchstone for years to come. Its success is both a testament to the potential of an expertly executed doctoral study and evidence of a significant emerging voice in Australasian cultural history. - Australian Historical Studies, 44, 2, 2013 An ambitious book, tackling large questions across two hemispheres and a long century. Felicity Barnes pulls it off. - Journal of NZ Studies, June 2014 Antipodean soldiers and writers, meat carcasses and moa, British films and Kiwi tourists: over the last 150 years, all of these people, things and ideas have gone back and forth from New Zealand to London to help define, and redefine, the relationship between this country and the colonial centre. In New Zealand’s London, expanded from an award-winning PhD thesis from the University of Auckland, Felicity Barnes explores ‘a colony and its metropolis’ from Wakefield to The Wombles. By focusing on particular themes - from agricultural marketing to expatriate writers - Barnes develops a larger story about colonial and national identity. New Zealand’s London is already being hailed as a landmark work of historical writing on the development of our culture.

This book explores how New Zealand, a small country almost as far from Western Europe as it is possible to be, assumed political importance in Britain’s accession to the European Community vastly out of proportion to its size, proximity and strategic position. At several points in accession negotiations, the issue of New Zealand’s continued trade with Britain threatened to derail UK Government attempts to join the Community. This issue also interacted with the broader context of the Cold War, economic shocks and decolonisation, materially affecting the terms of entry into the European Community, and altering Britain’s relations with its European partners and the British public’s perceptions of British membership. After entry, New Zealand continued to resurface as a continued source of tension between Britain and an integrating Europe. The role that New Zealand played sheds light on Britain’s attempts to retain global influence after the demise of its formal empire. Contributing to a growing body of research which challenges the traditional historical narratives of British ‘decline’ and colonial ‘independence’ in the second half of the twentieth century, this book fills an important gap in the historiography of Britain following the 1973 enlargement of the European Communities.

James Belich’s book is a tour de force. In a brilliant new analysis, he demolishes the received wisdom of the course and outcome of the new Zealand Wars . . . explains how we came by the version and why it is all wrong, and substitutes his own interpretation. It is a vigorous and splendidly stylish contribution to our historiography. – the New Zealand Listener This is not just a good book. It is a remarkable book. – Professor Keith Sinclair First published in 1986, James Belich’s groundbreaking book and the television series based upon it transformed New Zealanders’ understanding of the ‘bitter and bloody struggles’ between Maori and Pakeha in the nineteenth century. Revealing the enormous tactical and military skill of Maori, and the inability of the ‘Victorian interpretation of racial conflict’ to acknowledge those qualities, Belich’s account of the New Zealand Wars offered a very different picture from the one previously given in historical works. Maori, in Belich’s view, won the Northern War and stalemated the British in the Taranaki War of 1860–61 only to be defeated by 18,000 British troops in the Waikato War of 1863–64. The secret of effective Maori resistance was an innovative military system, the modern pa, a trench-and-bunker fortification of a sophistication not achieved in Europe until 1915. According to the author: ‘The degree of Maori success in all four major wars is still underestimated – even to the point where, in the case of one war, the wrong side is said to have won.’ This bestselling classic of New Zealand history is a must-read – and Belich’s larger argument about the impact of historical interpretation resonates today.