The Unsettled

WHAT IT MEANS TO OWN YOUR PASTAfter Richard Shaw published his acclaimed memoir The Forgotten Coast in 2021, he made contact with Pakeha with long settler histories who were coming to grips with the truth of their respective families' 'pioneer stories'. They were questioning the foundation of aggressive acts of colonisation and land confiscation on which those stories had been constructed.The Unsettled weaves those stories with Shaw's own and features New Zealanders who are trying to figure out how to live well with their own pasts, their presents and their possible futures. They may be unsettled, but they are doing something about it.It is an indispensable companion for the journey towards understanding the complex and difficult history of the New Zealand Wars and their ongoing aftermath.

‘This courageous book is an addition to a growing literature by Pākehā ‘journeying back into the map of memory’ . . . This small but potent book will foster different conversations about the past and its connection with the present’ — Paul Diamond

‘Knowing the truth of what happened matters for all of us. Reading The Unsettled: Small Stories of Colonisation deepens our understanding of how our past histories have shaped our present lives’ — Lyn Potter, NZ Booklovers

An absolutely brilliant book about excavating our settler pasts to recognise the truth in those narratives in terms of land theft and the structural advantages that theft enabled. Honest, compellingly written, and without hand-wringing or virtue signalling: a useful tool for anyone wanting to feel more settled with their own histories.’ — The Spinoff

Richard Shaw is a professor of politics at Massey University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He is a regular commentator on political issues and the author of a number of academic publications about government, parliament and politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. His heart increasingly lies in the historical and emotional territories explored both in this and his 2021 book, The Forgotten Coast (Massey University Press).

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