The book unravels key moments in distant and recent history that have shaped contemporary New Zealand.

New Zealand was the last major landmass, other than Antarctica, to be settled by humans. In A Concise History of New Zealand Aotearoa, Philippa Mein Smith beautifully narrates the story of this rugged and dynamic land, from its origins in Gondwana, between 60 and 100 million years ago, its late settlement by Polynesian voyagers, and its colonisation by Europeans (and the exchanges that made these peoples Māori and Pākehā) to the dramatic struggles over land and efforts to manage global forces into the twenty-first century. The third edition continues to unravel key moments in distant and recent history – the signing and continuation of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi), the Gallipoli landings, the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, and earthquakes – showing their roles in nation-building myths and connecting them with the less dramatic forces, economic and social, that have shaped contemporary New Zealand.