Rights Of Passage - Beyond the New Zealand Identity Crisis

Hachette New Zealand, 1999. 237 pages.

'Rights of Passage' provides a view of the factors that define New Zealand's national sense of self - politics, race relations, sport, conservation, class consciousness, diplomacy, defence and economic policy. Now, these issues are seen through the personal lens of Chris Laidlaw, who has had a lifetime of experience at the forefront of public affairs in New Zealand and in other parts of the world. He leads us via his own brand of anecdote and humour though the labyrinth of our national identity and toward some of the choices this country faces if it is to fully grow up.