The Story Of Canterbury: Last Wakefield Settlement
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Few colonial ventures captured the idealism and ambition of the Victorian era quite like the Canterbury Settlement — and A. H. Reed's The Story of Canterbury: Last Wakefield Settlement stands as a definitive account of that bold experiment in systematic colonisation. Rooted in the visionary principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the settlement was conceived as a model Anglican community on the South Island of New Zealand, and Reed chronicles its founding, its struggles, and its ultimate triumph with the clarity and authority of a seasoned historian. From the arrival of the First Four Ships in 1850 to the gradual forging of a distinctly New Zealand character from British stock, the narrative brings to life the settlers, surveyors, clergy, and pioneers who shaped what would become one of the country's most prosperous regions. Reed writes with a warmth and scholarly rigour that reflects his deep reverence for New Zealand's colonial heritage, grounding grand historical forces in the human stories of those who lived them. The result is a work that illuminates not merely the founding of a city, but the broader tensions between Old World ideals and the raw demands of a new land — between the ordered vision of Wakefield's theories and the stubborn reality of Canterbury's plains and mountains. For anyone seeking to understand how a corner of the South Pacific was shaped by ambition, faith, and extraordinary tenacity, this richly detailed account leaves one wondering: how much of that founding spirit still endures in Canterbury today?
Author: A. H. Reed
Format: Hardback
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Few colonial ventures captured the idealism and ambition of the Victorian era quite like the Canterbury Settlement — and A. H. Reed's The Story of Canterbury: Last Wakefield Settlement stands as a definitive account of that bold experiment in systematic colonisation. Rooted in the visionary principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the settlement was conceived as a model Anglican community on the South Island of New Zealand, and Reed chronicles its founding, its struggles, and its ultimate triumph with the clarity and authority of a seasoned historian. From the arrival of the First Four Ships in 1850 to the gradual forging of a distinctly New Zealand character from British stock, the narrative brings to life the settlers, surveyors, clergy, and pioneers who shaped what would become one of the country's most prosperous regions. Reed writes with a warmth and scholarly rigour that reflects his deep reverence for New Zealand's colonial heritage, grounding grand historical forces in the human stories of those who lived them. The result is a work that illuminates not merely the founding of a city, but the broader tensions between Old World ideals and the raw demands of a new land — between the ordered vision of Wakefield's theories and the stubborn reality of Canterbury's plains and mountains. For anyone seeking to understand how a corner of the South Pacific was shaped by ambition, faith, and extraordinary tenacity, this richly detailed account leaves one wondering: how much of that founding spirit still endures in Canterbury today?