Interview: Derek Leask talks about the Atlas of the New Zealand Wars

Derek Leask served in New Zealand’s foreign ministry from 1969 to 2012. He was ambassador to the European Union in Brussels from 1994 to 1999, Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Wellington from 2004 to 2008, and New Zealand’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (and Ambassador to Ireland) from 2008 to 2012. Derek talks to NZ Booklovers.

Tell us a little about Atlas of the New Zealand Wars.

The Atlas aims to throw new light, for Māori and for Pākehā, on fifty years of conflict from 1834 to 1884. The New Zealand Wars were recorded in different ways, orally through traditional Māori practice, and through written reports and newspapers and books. Among British and colonial sources there were many maps drawn by soldiers and sailors and surveyors. They made maps and plans that serve a singular role in identifying for Māori and for Pākehā the paths of their ancestors, the places where they lived, and the pā and the stockades where they fought and where some of them died. These 19th-century maps, some well-known, others not known at all, are the backbone of the Atlas of the New Zealand Wars. The Atlas provides a new narrative of the wars, with the maps helping to tell the story, and, I hope, giving Māori and Pākehā new insights into what happened and why it still matters.

What inspired you to write this book?

The maps and plans themselves. They are works of art, they are informative, they deserve to see the light of day. But many of them hide in far-off institutions, inaccessible for most descendants of those who took part or who were affected. Māori and Pākehā leaders have voiced strong support for bringing these ‘home’ at least in digital form, and the Atlas is my way of making some of them available (along with the reports that came with them). I have used them to look at the history of the wars from a different angle.

The research for this large volume must have been intensive. Can you tell us how you went about doing your research?

My research was, more comprehensive and methodical than they were subtle. For over twenty years I harvested maps and their associated documents. I prepared a substantial catalogue of the maps of the wars (the first five volumes of which have been lodged with the Turnbull Library. This comprehensive search of British, New Zealand, Australian and even French institutions was only possible with 21st Century cameras. Digital cameras – shoot first, read later – allowed me to photo maps and documents and look at them closely and seriously at home at my desk, even ten years on.

What was your routine or process when writing this book?

I had no daily routine. If I wasn’t eating or sleeping or doing the dishes or otherwise engaging in personal maintenance, I was probably at or near the computer. Chapter by chapter, I would do some reading, look at the maps, go over what I had written up about them in my Map Catalogue, and then start writing. And as I wrote I inevitably had to look for more evidence about what was happening and which force – troops or taua – was going where at precise moments along the paths of the wars. On-line collections and Papers Past were invaluable. So were the reports and papers of the Waitangi Tribunal

What did you enjoy the most about writing this impressive book?

Writing the Atlas gave me a better grasp of the New Zealand Wars. That was not necessarily enjoyable, but it was satisfying. What I hope is that others will get the same satisfaction when they read the Atlas. Māori and Pākehā want to know their history and, amongst all the reviews, I value most the ones that say the Atlas provides a clear and readable story of the wars.

What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?

The book did not feel ‘finished’ until finally it went off to the printers. That was a sweet moment.

What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?

My reading has mainly been tied to the penultimate chapter of Volume 2 of the Atlas. I am writing about Te Kooti and, no surprise, he is proving rather elusive. Ron Crosby’s Gilbert Mair has been essential alongside Judith Binney’s Redemptions Songs and, as always, James Cowan’s The New Zealand Wars.

What’s next on the agenda for you?

Finishing Volume 2.

Auckland University Press