Sixty Red Nightcaps and Other Curiosities of New Zealand History

Published by David Bateman, Auckland, 1980, 64 pages.

A personal, delightfully biassed, and above all, lively view of the first hundred years or so of New Zealand's existence. Errol Brathwaite writes, with tongue in cheek, of the nostalgically viewed good old days; of Maori-Pakeha distractions; of comically amatteur legislators striving to emulate the Mother of Parliaments; of South (and North) Island secessions. He's a bit of an historian, a bit of a story-teller, but more important, he's a bit of an entertainer. And his facts (apart from a few stretchers) are right. Based on a series of talks broadcast by Radio New Zealand under the title Where is it, What is it?, each episode is complete in itself.