Keith Newman – författare

Beyond Betrayal delves into New Zealand''s pioneering history, and asks why such promising partnerships descended into decades of distrust. After the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, a succession of governors resisted missionary advice, despite their local knowledge and peacemaking skills, and influenced a raft of misunderstandings that provoked violent outbreaks across the country. The rise of Maori prophetic movements, and an intense desire for Maori to have a unified political voice, saw allegiances split between those supporting the government and those frustrated at failed Treaty promises. The pressure to surrender tribal lands had the same impact – a shattered economy and a dispossessed people. The thrilling follow-up to Keith Newman''s bestselling Bible & Treaty, Beyond Betrayal looks behind the events that led to the first Maori land protests, and follows the unfolding drama through the stories of the early missionaries and Maori heroes of the faith. These dramatic and heartrending tales of injustice, sacrifice and redemption form an important and often misunderstood backdrop to the wider New Zealand story – one of the most turbulent periods in our history, told with skill, sensitivity and heart.

Bible & Treaty: Missionaries among the Māori is a complex and colourful adventure of faith, bravery, perseverance and betrayal that seeks to recover lost connections in the story of modern New Zealand.   It brings a fresh perspective to the missionary story, from the lead-up to Samuel Marsden''s first sermon on New Zealand soil, and the intervening struggle for survival and understanding, to the dramatic events that unfolded around the Treaty of Waitangi and the disillusionment that led to the Land Wars in the 1860s.   While some missionaries clearly failed to live up to their high calling, the majority committed their lives to Māori and were instrumental in spreading Christianity, brokering peace between warring tribes, and promoting literacy – resulting in a Māori-language edition of the Bible.   This highly readable account, from the author of Ratana Revisited: An Unfinished Legacy (2006) and Ratana: The Prophet (2009), shines a new light on the ever-evolving business of New Zealand''s early history.