The Healthy Country? A History of Life and Death in New Zealand

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In this book, Alistair Woodward and Tony Blakely tell the extraordinary story of life and death in Aotearoa New Zealand from first M?ori settlement to the twenty-first century.

Did Maori or Europeans live longer in 1769? How did P?keh? New Zealanders become the healthiest, longest lived people on the face of the globe ? and why did M?ori not enjoy the same life expectancy? Why was New Zealanders? health and longevity surpassed by other nations in the late twentieth century? Through quantitative analysis, presented in accessible graphics and lively text, the authors answer these questions by analysing the impact of nutrition and disease, immigration and unemployment, alcohol and obesity, medicine and vaccination. The result is a powerful argument about how we live and why we die in this country (and what we might do about it).

The Healthy Country? is a decisive contribution to current debates about health, disease and medicine ? and important reading for anyone interested in the story of New Zealanders.