Win a copy of 'The Mighty Totara'

This is the major biography of arguably New Zealand's greatest modern political leader.
Historian David Grant has himself created history by writing a captivating account of the challenges and triumphs of one of New Zealand's greatest ever leaders who protected the sanctity of human life regardless of age or ability. Norman Kirk's social justice ethos has been credited to his strict Christian upbringing and growing up in the depression.
As Norman Kirk's body lay in state near the steps of Parliament on the day after his death on 31 August 1974, a kaumatua wailed ‘the mighty totara has fallen'. The lament reflected what many New Zealanders felt about this big, commanding and loved leader, dead at just 51. More than 30,000 people filed past Kirk's casket over two days, and again in Christchurch, in a commemoration that matched only Michael Joseph Savage's for emotional power.
Both men died in office, both men were humanitarians. Kirk also worked to move the Labour Party away from its cloth-cap heritage to embrace a much broader electoral compass, for it to become, in his words, ‘the natural party of New Zealand'. Prime Minister of New Zealand between November 1972 and August 1974, Kirk's childhood was blighted with poverty, yet he thrived. He moved into a succession of manual trades, before booming into local body politics. His political rise was rapid, from mayor of Kaiapoi at the age of 30 to leader of the Labour Party within a few years.
This book examines Kirk's political leadership; his successes, especially his stunning performances on the international stage, but also his later difficulties when the country's economy was rocked by international oil shocks. He deferred the 1973 Springbok tour and sent warships into the French nuclear testing zone near Mururoa Atoll, his government set up ohu and the established the DPB. He was New Zealand's first truly regionalist Prime Minister, drawing New Zealand closer to Asia and the Pacific, as the ties to ‘mother Britain' slowly loosened.
This landmark book takes the full measure of the remarkable New Zealander who was our last working-class Prime Minister.
About the author David Grant...
David Grant is a Wellington historian and author with a background in journalism and teaching. In 1999 he was awarded Victoria University's JD Stout Research Fellowship in New Zealand cultural studies. He reviews for New Zealand Books, and is a guest lecturer in history at Victoria University. As well as contributing to a wide range of anthologies, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, journals and magazines, he did background research for the TV series One People: Our Century. His books include: Man for All Seasons: The Life and Times of Ken Douglas; The Big Blue: Snapshots of the 1951 waterfront lockout (as editor);Those Who Can Teach: A History of Secondary Education in New Zealand from the Union Perspective; Two Over Three on Goodtime Sugar: The New Zealand TAB turns 50; Jagged Seas: The New Zealand Seamen's Union 1879-2003; Field punishment No. 1: Archibald Baxter, Mark Briggs and New Zealand's anti-militarist tradition. He has also researched prime minister of the Third Labour Government, Norman Kirk, and a history of the Christian Pacifist Society, New Zealand's first major pacifist group.
To win a copy of this book CLICK HERE open to NZ residents only.
Competition closes 10th April 2015.