HISTORY OF OUR GOVERNMENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23719, 27 July 1940, Page 4 (Supplement)

HISTORY OF OUR GOVERNMENT

Mr. Leicester Webb

By O.S.H

A MOST valuable addition to the list of New Zealand Centennial Surveys is Mr. Leicester Webb's crisp and stimulating outline of the history of representative Government from early colonial days up to the present time. To deal with such a subject in a book of less than 200 pages requires a fairly considerable departure from the accepted technique of the historian, but Mr. Webb has achieved a triumph of selection and compression. , . The author does not claim for his book the status of a work of reference, but describes it rather as an essay which may help in the use of works of reference. Here he scarcely does credit to his own labours, for ho has produced a book which marshals essential and valuable facts in a manner that cannot be expected in a series of more bulky volumes, each dealing with a particular period. Mr. Webb's survey lias the merit of continuity, both in historical discussion and in the analysis of the varying factors which have shaped the 'development of New Zealand politics. A section' of particular interest is that dealing with the age grouping, educational qualifications and occupations of New Zealand politicians in the changing periods of Parliamentary Government. In this, as in other passages, Mr. Webb has not sought to flatter either present or past Governments. and it is that air of detachment even in criticism that gives the book a special value. "Government in New Zealand." by Leicester Webb. (Department of Internal Affairs.)