Johnny Jones: A Colonial Saga

* Story of a prominent Otago pioneer brings early New Zealand vividly to life
* Authentic chronicle of how land and power passed from Maori hands to British
* Spans first half of the nineteenth century New Zealand history

Johnny Jones was born in the convict town of Sydney. Undeterred by this unpromising beginning, the good-looking lad with a will of iron sets out to make his fortune – and eventually finds it in New Zealand.

Along the way he is beset by shipwrecks, bankruptcy, personal tragedy and the occasional bout of fisticuffs. He makes friends with Tuhawaiki, the paramount chief of the South Island: and through him has the effrontery, along with well-known Australian lawyer William Charles Wentworth, to ‘buy’ the whole of the South Island at the time when Britain was planning to annex New Zealand.

This story spans the first half of the 19th century and brings early New Zealand vividly to life. It is not just a biography, but an authentic chronicle of how land and power passed from Maori hands to the British.

Its sold-out first edition was published in print by Reed Publishing. Due to continuing demand, it has been reissued as an ebook.

‘Well written, well researched and a darned good read’ – Rae McGregor, reviewed on ‘Nine to Noon’, Radio New Zealand.