Since the mid-1800's Te Kingitanga has been a force in New Zealand society. The Maori King movement combines spiritual and political elements which conserve the "turangawaewae" (standpoints) of the past with practical leadership in the contemporary Maori world. This collection of 14 biographies of leaders has been put together to celebrate the settlement of the Tainui claim and the royal apology given by Queen Elizabeth to the Tainui people in 1995.

This book details the background to the Kingitanga and also tells the story of the first king, Potatau Te Wherowhero. It details all the momentous events of Te Wherowhero's life from around 1775 to his death in 1860, including his status as Lord of the Waikato and the famous battles and conflicts with other tribes, his raising up as the First Maori King, and Mana Motuhake, the Maori Kingship, set apart as the symbol of the spiritual and cultural life of the Maori. Pei Te Hurinui's biography of King Potatau tells this story in a Maori voice employing waiata, poetry and whakapapa as well as prose text in English and English translations so that the book is accessible to both Maori language speakers and those with no knowledge of Maori.

Spanning nearly two centuries from first contact through to settlement and apology, ​this major work focuses on the human impact of the war in the Waikato, its origins and aftermath.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1864. Or, the story of our Quarrel with the natives of New Zealand.

"The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 by over 500 chiefs, and by William Hobson, representing the British Crown. To the British it was the means by which they gained sovereignty over New Zealand. But to Maori people it had a very different significance, and they are still affected by the terms of the Treaty, often adversely.The Treaty of Waitangi, the first comprehensive study of the Treaty, deals with its place in New Zealand history from its making to the present day. The story covers the several Treaty signings and the substantial differences between Maori and English texts; the debate over interpretation of land rights and the actions of settler governments determined to circumvent Treaty guarantees; the wars of sovereignty in the 1860s and the longstanding Maori struggle to secure a degree of autonomy and control over resources." --Publisher.