“The Press” In 1866

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31119, 23 July 1966, Page 14

“The Press” In 1866

THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND.— Any book from Mr Fox’s pen cannot fail to be interesting, and a book on the New Zealand war, during a considerable part of which he was a member of the Government, ought to be instructive in no ordinary degree ... We strongly advise all those who wish to have before them a remarkably well-written, terse and pleasant narrative of the New Zealand war, to read this work, especially if their previous acquaintance with the politics of New Zealand enables them to make the necessary corrections for the natural partiality which the author exhibits for the course taken by the Government of which he was the most active member if not the guiding spirit. Mr Fox’s principal object has been to defend the colonists

from the gross aspersions which have been cast upon them by the press and the people of England, and especially by military men who have been engaged in the war . . . The book consists of a narrative of events political and military, from the first purchase of the Waitara until the arrival of the last mail from the colony, that is, to the commencement of the present year ... On the whole, the work is one of the best which has been written on New Zealand, and apart from its temporary interest contains so much of history that it may well find a place on the bookshelves of those who desire that they, and those who come after them, should have some knowledge of the struggles of young New Zealand. (By W. Fox, A. M. Smith, Elder and Co.: Cornhill.)