New Zealand's London: A Colony and its Metropolis

(Paperback)

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Description

For most of New Zealand's history, its main centre has lain some 12,000 miles away from its geographical borders. London, centre of the empire and the world's greatest city, was also New Zealand's metropolis. Antipodean soldiers and writers, meat carcasses and moa, British films and Kiwi tourists - over the last 150 years, all of these people, things and ideas have gone back and forth from New Zealand to London to help define, and redefine, the relationship between this country and its colonial centre. In New Zealand's London, which draws on an award-winning PhD thesis, Felicity Barnes explores 'a colony and its metropolis', from Wakefield to The Wombles. By focusing on particular themes - from agricultural marketing to expatriate writers - Barnes develops a larger story about our colonial and national identity.

Reviews

"Barnes's [book] demonstrates the power of a well-worked doctoral thesis, clear and jargon-free, turned into a solidly illustrated model of historical cultural analysis." --New Zealand Listener
"It's a considerably reworked version of an award-winning PhD thesis. Fortunately, it does not read like one and with a large gallery of interesting and sometimes quirky images, it should appeal to general as well as specialist readers." --Otago Daily Times (November 24, 2012)

Author Bio

Dr Felicity Barnes teaches History at The University of Auckland. She won that University's award for Best Doctoral Dissertation for the thesis on which New Zealand's London draws and her research was supported by the Research Grants Committee, a Doctoral Scholarship and the Eric & Myra McCormick Scholarship in History. She has assisted historian Caroline Daley with presenting history programmes for Radio NZ. New Zealand's London will be her first book.