Forests Rangers

A book detailing the role of rangers over a hundred and twenty five years ago a small, rugged band of irregular soldiers played a decisive role in the New Zealand Wars. Through south Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wanganui, Taranaki, Poverty Bay and Hawke's Bay they waged guerrilla war on the Maori and had war waged against them. They called themselves the Forest Rangers. Individually and collectively the Forest Rangers are enigmatic. Were they unconventional soldiers who used unorthodox methods, or were they a group of undisciplined mercenaries? Their full story is now being told for the first time. This book captures the short, but intensely dramatic period of New Zealand's history in a vivid and very personal way. It is deeply imbued with a sense of a time and place combining historical research with verbatim transcripts. The Forest Rangers is a book for many readers: for those who are formal students of New Zealand history; for those who want to know what happened in the development of their local community; and for those who simply want to read historical action stories where place names have a relevance. As a military historian, Richard Stowers displays his extraordinary ability to gather and assemble information about people and places which he brings graphically to life. As a professional graphic artist, his eye for detail constructs a series of adventures with fascinating historical precision. We follow the Forest Rangers as they plan and execute their encounters. By taking that journey, we also discover important, yet largely forgotten, events which resulted in some of the complex racial issues in New Zealand today. The events, people and places which appear in this book provide a perspective on present day Aotearoa New Zealand which will help build a clearer understanding of the conflicts which lie within us all.…