Garrison world : redcoat soldiers in New Zealand and across the British empire /
"The pivotal year of 1870 brought down the curtain on the redcoat garrison world at both the metropolitan and colonial ends of the empire . . . In fewer than forty years, less than a lifetime, Aotearoa had gone from being a Māori world in which rangatira dominated, to a colony in which the sett...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Wellington, New Zealand :
Bridget Williams Books,
2025.
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| Summary: | "The pivotal year of 1870 brought down the curtain on the redcoat garrison world at both the metropolitan and colonial ends of the empire . . . In fewer than forty years, less than a lifetime, Aotearoa had gone from being a Māori world in which rangatira dominated, to a colony in which the settler state was in control of the economy, politics and people's social destiny. Garrison World explores the lives of soldiers, sailors and their families stationed in Aotearoa New Zealand and across the British empire in the nineteenth century. Spanning the decades from 1840 to 1870, this major new history from Charlotte Macdonald places the New Zealand Wars within the wider framework of imperial power. It shows how conflict and resistance throughout the empire, from rebellion in India to the Morant Bay uprising in Jamaica, were connected to the colonial project in New Zealand. At the centre of this history are the thousands who served in the British military - from rank-and-file soldiers and bluejackets drawn from working-class Britain and Ireland, to officers from elite backgrounds who purchased their commissions. Their presence in New Zealand was vital to the imposition of imperial control, both during times of war and in the intervening years when the garrison underpinned a fragile settler economy and society. Through rich archival detail and personal accounts, Garrison World traces the structures, experiences and legacies of military occupation. Acknowledging the impact on Māori communities and whenua, the book offers a critical and unflinching account of how imperial authority was imposed - and often violently asserted. This is a compelling and significant contribution to understanding the reordering of power that shaped Aotearoa in the nineteenth century"--Jacket flap. "Between 1840 and 1870 New Zealand transformed from a Rangatira state, with the population overwhelmingly Māori, to a settler colony. Among the influx, 12 thousand colonial British soldiers brought here to protect British interests who fought in the New Zealand Land Wars. They fought against Ngapuhi in the 1840s, against Taranaki iwi, and Waikato's Kingitanga and their allies, in the 1860s. Later around a fifth of the soldiers applied to take their discharge from the Army in New Zealand, becoming 'soldier settlers'. The story of those soldiers, known as the Redcoats, has been told in a new book Garrison World - by Victoria University history professor Charlotte Macdonald"--Publisher website. |
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| Physical Description: | 495 pages : colour illustrations, colour maps ; 27 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781991033703 1991033702 |