There has been a new post (read more), of four books that arise from, or have an interest in, the Taranaki War of 1860-1861. The first is by Thomas Gilbert, who might have been New Zealand’s  first conscientious objector. He was originally a Unitarian Baptist minister with pacifist views and refused to serve when called up, along with his eldest, equally pacifist son, He gives a moving account, worrying about his sons, and convinced that a military approach to the land issues would not be successful. This admirable man stood by his beliefs that taking up arms was wrong.

The second is by  Lt. Col Robert Carey, a major military figure in the war, and later in the Waikato campaign. Carey gives a detailed account of the action, and is no friend to the settlers, whom he sees as wanting to defeat, and completely get rid of what they see as a troublesome Māori population. He is scorned by settlers and press alike, which seems somehow to  be in his favour.

William Grayling, in the third very rare book, was probably New Zealand’s first agricultural chemist, who settled in New Plymouth and volunteered in the conflict. His views are very much those of the dominant settler, deriding those who show any empathy with Māori and their cause.

The last, very readable book, is by Edwin Hodder, an engaging young man out for adventure, who spent a day in New Plymouth observing, after an attempt at gold mining in Nelson, and generally seeing the world. He later went on to publish hymns and write novels of adventure and travel, and this is what his books feels like. You have to like this fellow.

The books provide varying views of the conflict, its reasons and the approaches taken, and seem indispensable for an understanding of the conflict and its aftermath, which particularly later with the invasion of  Parihaka in 1881, still resonates today.