Back
in print ahead of Anzac Day 2018, Te Hokowhitu
a Tu is an authoritative account of the role played by Maori and Pacific
Islanders in the First World War.
Maori
soldiers signing up for the Great War representing a formidable
fighting
force – Te Hokowhitu a Tu, or the Seventy twice-told warriors of the war
god,
Tumatauenga.
Paternalistic
concern kept the Maori Pioneer Battalion kept most in roles as support troops,
although their strong desire to fight saw numerous exploits in the front lines
— and their overall war efforts won them significant rights as full citizens once
they got back home.
Drawing
on rare archival material and previously unpublished diaries and
letters,
Te Hokowhitu a Tu balances the military
story with a portrait of daily life for soldiers who laboured not only against
the enemy but also racism behind their own lines.
Author
Christopher
Pugsley is an internationally recognised military historian. A retired
Lieutenant-Colonel in the New Zealand Army, he was a lecturer in military
studies in New Zealand and Australia, and retired in 2012 as a Senior Lecturer
at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Recent works with Oratia include the
magnificent The Camera in the Crowd:
Filming New Zealand in Peace and War, 1895–1920 (2017) and a new edition of The Anzac Experience: New Zealand, Australia
and Empire in the First World War.
ISBN: 978-0-947506-38-4 | RRP $45
Paperback with flaps, 297 x 210 mm, 148 pages b&w
