Being Pakeha Now: Reflections & recollections Of A White Native

Description

A reprint of Michael King's seminal book on what it means to be a non-Maori New Zealander. First published in 1985, Being Pakeha became a kiwi classic, a strong reply both to Maori who were asserting their own identity and also to Pakeha who were mumbling that they didn't have a strong culture or identity of their own. Being Pakeha Now was updated in 1999 and is being reprinted again with a foreword by Kerry Howe, Professor of History at Massey University and author of The Quest for Origins. Because of Michael's untimely death, this book is the closest we'll have to memoir by this major New Zealand historian and biographer. In Being Pakeha Now Michael King carries the cultural debate forward. While recognising and respecting the place of Maori in New Zealand, he argues that Pakeha too belong inescapably to this country and have no other home. Part memoir, part apologia and part celebration of a country and its peoples, Being Pakeha Now is an exciting and controversial book that travels into the hinterland of the national psyche.

The late Michael King was one of New Zealand's leading historians. Over three decades he wrote or edited more than 30 books, most of them New Zealand history or biography. He won a wide range of awards for this work, including the New Zealand Book Award for Non-fiction, the Wattie Book of the Year (twice), the Montana Medal for Non-fiction and, in 2003, an inaugural Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. He was a contributor to the prestigious Oxford History of New Zealand and wrote for all five volumes of The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Dr King taught or held fellowships at seven universities in New Zealand and other countries, including Georgetown University in Washington DC, where he was Visiting Professor of New Zealand Studies. He was tragically killed in a car accident in 2004.