For over 500 years Polynesians had New Zealand to themselves. However, towards the end of the 1700s, Europeans started arriving to exploit the resources of the country. A technologically advanced culture began interacting with a Stone Age society, and those connections increased as more and more settlers, mainly British, arrived. This book is about those interactions in the 19th century. 

By John McLean.

In this single volume are detailed descriptions of several of the big public works projects in the pioneer period that turned New Zealand from a trackless waste into a well-serviced nation of the modern world.