The Forgotten Wars: Why The Musket Wars matter today

by Ron Crosby

Distinguished author and lawyer Ron Crosby rewrites his seminal The Musket Wars on a thematic basis, simplifying it to a concise work full of maps and illustrations for the general reader. Muskets, potatoes and other introductions fundamentally altered the balance of power in 19th-century Aotearoa, leading to inter-iwi conflicts over almost 40 years that claimed tens of thousands of lives. This important work will further understanding of how the boom of muskets continues to echo in New Zealand today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2020

About the author

Ron Crosby holds a Bachelor of Law (Honours) from the University of Auckland and spent the first 35 years of his career working as a barrister in the New Zealand courts (including twice in the Privy Council). He has since acted as a commissioner hearing a wide range of cases under the Resource Management Act, as a part-time member of the Waitangi Tribunal (since 2011), and as a mediator and arbitrator.

While still practising law, over a period of five years he researched and wrote his first book, The Musket Wars: A History of Inter-iwi Conflict (1999, republished in 2001 and 2012). This was followed by Gilbert Mair: Te Kooti's Nemesis (2004), Andris Apse: Odyssey and Images — An Illustrated Biography (2006, republished in 2013 as Andris, Where Are You?), Albaneta: Lost Opportunity at Cassino (2007), NZSAS: The First Fifty Years (2009, republished in 2011), and A Desperate Dawn: The Battle for Turuturu Mokai, 1868 (2013).

Ron's deep interest in Maori history was first sparked by his wife, Margy, and her father, Manga Kamariera (Cameron) of Te Rarawa and Te Aupouri. Ron and Margy have three adult children and eight grandchildren, and now live in Blenheim.

Reviews

[Keen Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Musket Wars took place between 1807-1845 resulting in the most turbulent period of war in New Zealand’s history. These weapons were introduced by whalers and sealers, missionaries and timber traders and traders in flax. The first iwi to acquire muskets were those in Northland, predominately the Ngapuhi. Between 1818 and 1825 they and their cohorts swept aside the top half of the North Island.

Much of the surface mythology soon gets swiftly dispatched and buried under the stories of slaughter and slavery from the many warring tribes. Tales of women and children being tied to the back of wakas until drowned, as well as stories of children being murdered then eaten in front of their parents do not make for easy reading.

The sheer extent of savagery, torture and cruelty thrown around with a bit of grave and corpse desecration on the side can get pretty full-on. This can be fairly confronting stuff and reveals that the Maori were far more relentless and unforgiving on each other than even the white newcomers were on them.

This is a well-written enough account with clear maps and fact boxes to help to make it more clear and accessible, but I am just not the audience for it. I have to be honest, this is yet another subject I had no idea how little interest I had in it, ‘til I read this. After a while all the names, battles and places seemed to drift past me in a blurry haze of utu, Te Reo and cannibal feasts.

[Angelique Simonsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Easy and quite engaging to read. A definitive history even highlighting some of the brave deeds of the Māori peolle. A good honest account

[Bailey Masters · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a lack of good history books written on the NZ-wide inter-iwi "musket wars" of the early nineteenth century. It's a substantial gap given the scope and scale of the conflicts, and it's far-reaching consequences that continue to echo in the present.

Unfortunately this particular overview is more chronicle than history, and fails to properly introduce readers to the cultural and political context that drove these wars. Utu is frequently named as the driving force but it's never explained exactly what Māori leaders were responding to. I still have no clue what Hongi Hika's reasoning or purpose was when he led his taua south. Utu ostensibly, but why and for what?

The unfortunate result of these decontextualised events is an account that quickly descends into what another reviewer has called 'a blurry haze of utu, te reo and cannibal feasts'. It's a sad takeaway. For while this particular history is a confronting one, I very much doubt it was without meaning.

[Nick Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a condensed, reorganised, and, to the casual reader, perhaps less intimidating version of Ron Crosby’s ‘The Musket Wars’. The topic is an important period of New Zealand’s history, and this book is definitely a worthwhile read. However, as someone (a pākehā who grew up in Christchurch and who has lived all my life in the South Island) who was not especially familiar with North Island geography, iwi/hapū, or the names of their prominent figures, I did find it a tough read at the outset, and at one point set the book aside for a while. But this was a reflection of the gaps in my knowledge that I am presently making an effort to fill in. There are helpful maps provided throughout that I was constantly referring back to for a while (especially the ones showing the distribution of major iwi before and after the wars on the inside covers). In the end, the persistence was rewarded and I feel a bit more knowledgeable now about events I wish I had learnt something about at school.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched book describing an important period in New Zealand's history. It should definitely be part of the new history curriculum to be taught in schools.

In the early 1800's European whalers, traders and some settlers came to NZ, mainly in the North to start. The northern tribes acquired muskets and incidents in 1807 caused Ngapuhi to send a war party (taua) south to seek revenge (utu). Traditional fighting was hand-to-hand but with muskets the Maoris were able to pick off opponents, particularly the leaders (kaumatua), from a distance so had a great advantage.

As more tribes got muskets fighting spread all over NZ. The defeated were killed or kept as slaves, and some were eaten (this was to humiliate your enemy rather than for food). The atrocities stoked further need for utu. It is estimated over 50,000 Maoris were killed, injured or displaced. It was only in the 1840's, after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, did the wars die out. The after effects are still being felt to this day in the compensation process for subsequent injustices where Maori land was confiscated.

There are a lot of names and places mentioned as well as use of Maori words (defined when first used) so it was difficult to follow. As I read this book on a phone app I found it impossible to easily jump to the glossary. I think it would be better to read this in hard-back so you can jump around easier.

[Mark Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read, only losing one star because of repetition of events (though this because of the format selected to present the history by region). A fascinating insight into a period not usually covered by popular New Zealand history, which tends to focus on the Treaty of Waitangi. The cycle of utu, violence (and umu) - exacerbated by the power imbalance of the musket, even though not always decisive - provides a sobering backdrop to what missionaries and colonial authorities faced in the early 1800s. That the chaos was taken advantage of by the New Zealand Company presents another difficult vector to our national trajectory.

[Nigel McCarter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Account of period of intense inter iwi warfare between 1818 and 1840. The writing is clear and the information highly significant particularly given, as Crosby writes in the preface, "the long overdue introduction of the NZ history syllabus into our schools".
Some statements, for example estimates of population and casualty rates will be disputed by other historians, and there is no explanation of the cultural or sociological factors driving the campaigns – for example the importance of utu.
Highly recommended for all interested in NZ history and the present features of NZ society

[Daniel Headifen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some parts I knew but an awful lot I didn’t so really informative. And complicated around the different relationships of iwi and hapu.

[Iain Cargill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important history to know about New Zealand

[John Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

Completely upended my understanding of where NZ came from and how we got where we are now. A riveting read

[Alan Isaac]

A well written summary of the musket wars. A terrible period in NZ’s history that was ended by the combined efforts of missionaries, peaceful iwi (that survived) and the post 1840 Europeans.