"One hundred and thirty years ago an important libel case was heard in the High Court of Justice in London. George Rusden, a former Melbourne civil servant and polemical historian, was being sued by John Bryce, a former Minister of Native Affairs in New Zealand. Rusden had claimed in his History of New Zealand that Bryce had taken part in a massacre of Maori women and children in Taranaki some years earlier. Feelings ran high on both sides, but this was more than just a personal quarrel. Rather, it was the culmination of a bitter, 50-year-long battle between those who deplored what colonization had done to indigenous peoples and those who considered that it had been a blessing to settlers and natives alike. Who was Rusden? What was his social and intellectual background? And how had he got himself involved in such a dangerous law-suit?"--Back cover.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-202) and index.