The Ratana movement gains national coverage every February as politicians make the pilgrimage to its headquarters near Whanganui, yet the history and workings of the religion are less widely recognised. In this new edition of his standard biography, Keith Newman reveals the life and times of Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana and the movement he founded in 1918, tracing its activities and influence up to the present-day community of some 50,000 followers. Extensively illustrated colour and black & white photographs.

"Between two world wars the prophet, healer and political visionary T.W. Ratana rose from obscuirty to take on the mantle of the Maori prophetic and unity movements and rally the broken spirits of a once proud people. From the time of his 'divine' visitation in 1918, T.W. Ratana and his growing band of followers tirelessly worked to unite all Maori under one God and to restore the Treaty of Waitangi to its rightful placa as the founding document of the nation ..."--Publisher's desciption.

Bible & Treaty: Missionaries among the Māori is a complex and colourful adventure of faith, bravery, perseverance and betrayal that seeks to recover lost connections in the story of modern New Zealand. It brings a fresh perspective to the missionary story, from the lead-up to Samuel Marsden's first sermon on New Zealand soil, and the intervening struggle for survival and understanding, to the dramatic events that unfolded around the Treaty of Waitangi and the disillusionment that led to the Land Wars in the 1860s. While some missionaries clearly failed to live up to their high calling, the majority committed their lives to Māori and were instrumental in spreading Christianity, brokering peace between warring tribes, and promoting literacy – resulting in a Māori-language edition of the Bible. This highly readable account, from the author of Ratana Revisited: An Unfinished Legacy (2006) and Ratana: The Prophet (2009), shines a new light on the ever-evolving business of New Zealand's early history.

Throughout history, certain individuals with a rare passion for justice and a gift of insight have been able to rally and motivate people through periods of great social change, sometimes defying all odds and being greatly misunderstood in the process.Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana was such a man, called to prominence at a pivotal time, with a message for the Māori people and for the wider world. After a profound vision he became a healer of people's physical ailments and a lifter of ancient curses; and he was also a leader in healing the 'land sickness' of the Māori, after decades of land confiscation by the Government and the Crown.As founder of the Rātana Church and the Rātana movement, he led his followers in the quest to unite all Māori under one God, and to restore the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of the nation, giving Māori equal rights to British citizens.Ratana - The Prophet, based on some 20 years of research, distils for a general audience the extraordinary depth of T. W. Rātana's political, spiritual and social legacy.

Rua Kenana was an extraordinary prophetic leader from the Urewera. Resisting threats to expel the Tuhoe people from their ancestral lands, he established a remarkable community at Maungapohatu, identifying himself as the 'Mihaia' or 'Messiah' for Tuhoe. Judith Binney, Gillian Chaplin and Craig Wallace researched the history of the community in the 1970s, working first with a collection of photographs that they took to the Urewera. Sharing these photographs with descendants of Rua and his followers, they found that 'strangers opened their hearts to us, and shared their stories'. This biographical account focuses on a dramatic moment in Urewera history, one that incorporated a shocking episode in early twentieth-century New Zealand. The rich photographic record documents not only the police assault on the Maungapohatu community but also the lives of the people and Rua's utopian vision. The prophet lived into the 1930s, a leader still working to support and sustain his followers. Described on publication as 'an unparalleled record of a community through time', this remarkable history has been in demand since first publication by Oxford University Press in 1979.

Maori prophetic movements from the late 19th century are widely known. Men such as Te Whiti, Te Kooti and Rua Kenana led their people through periods of despair and challenge.

Beyond Betrayal delves into New Zealand's pioneering history, and asks why such promising partnerships descended into decades of distrust. After the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, a succession of governors resisted missionary advice, despite their local knowledge and peacemaking skills, and influenced a raft of misunderstandings that provoked violent outbreaks across the country. The rise of Maori prophetic movements, and an intense desire for Maori to have a unified political voice, saw allegiances split between those supporting the government and those frustrated at failed Treaty promises. The pressure to surrender tribal lands had the same impact – a shattered economy and a dispossessed people. The thrilling follow-up to Keith Newman's bestselling Bible & Treaty, Beyond Betrayal looks behind the events that led to the first Maori land protests, and follows the unfolding drama through the stories of the early missionaries and Maori heroes of the faith. These dramatic and heartrending tales of injustice, sacrifice and redemption form an important and often misunderstood backdrop to the wider New Zealand story – one of the most turbulent periods in our history, told with skill, sensitivity and heart.