UNDERSTANDING NEW ZEALAND

by F.L.W. Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 24, 1944

For those who would go beyond Nash's New Zealand (P. 330 -- Duell, Sloan & Pearce), this is a more exhaustive handling of the subject in an historical study that covers all aspects of the island up to the war's acceleration. Here is a picture of the forces that molded the life of the country, of the basic principles of culture in a new environment, the variation from the norm in colonial self government, the two-fold tradition of foreigners and Maoris, of the great wealth and great poverty; the story of the influence of farming and the impetus of refrigerated shipping; of education and the varied forms of culture, of racial problems and the rehabilitation of the Maori, of war efforts on three fronts. The main threads of evolution are traced and the experimentation in this social laboratory is clearly defined in the descriptions of the flexibility of policies, the attempts at social security, at planned economy, all underscoring the thesis of New Zealand as a ""democracy in actual practice as well as accepted theory"". Interesting phrase making, critical perspective and sound knowledge make this absorbing reading.

Pub Date: April 24, 1944

ISBN: 1406774030

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward, McCann

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1944

Categories: NONFICTION