Paul Moons biography succeeds in rescuing James Busby from the condescension of posterity. It does so by situating Busby in the larger contextsScottish Enlightenment, religious, British imperial, Maori, settler colonialnecessary to understand his controversial career. * John Stenhouse, Associate Professor of History, University of Otago, New Zealand * In The Rise and Fall of James Busby, we encounter the British Resident who for seven years maintained relationships between the chaotic Colonial Office, the mercurial New South Wales government, a lawless pre-treaty New Zealand and the nascent state which emerged after Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Through Paul Moons incisive research we meet the obsessive, prickly, land-hungry Busby of historic renown, but we also encounter the lesser-known stories of the friend to Hone Heke, the administrator who could be generous, thorough and principled, and the loyal husband and father. Busbys central place in the early colonial history of Aotearoa New Zealand is at last detailed in these pages. * Lloyd Carpenter, Senior Lecturer in Maori Studies, Lincoln University, New Zealand * [ Paul Moon] has done both Busby and us a service by rescuing him from historical marginalisation and providing a fuller portrait of the man whose efforts laid the groundwork for the Treaty. * Australian Historical Studies *
