New Zealand Settlers and Soldiers; Or, The War in Taranaki: Being Incidents in the Life of a Settler

New Zealand settlers and soldiers – is a book, which was published in 1861 and written by Thomas Gilbert. The First Taranaki War (also known as the Northern Taranaki War) was part of a conflict over land ownership and sovereignty between the indigenous Maori people and the colonial government of the British Empire in New Zealand. The conflict took place in the area of Taranaki, part of the North Island of New Zealand from March 1860 to March 1861. The war started over a dispute between the government and the Maori landowners, who were unhappy about the sale of their lands in Waitara. Hostilities quickly spread throughout the region. The following pages were written to show the non-political and non-Christian nature of any war. The author strove for simplicity and precision rather than originality in his statements of fact.