A Distant Shore

This book about New Zealand's Irish heritage offers the view that colonial New Zealand was more multicultural than we have been led to believe. Eight writers - most of Irish descent - have produced A Distant Shore: Irish Migration and New Zealand Settlement. Editor Lyndon Fraser says "A Distant Shore moves us towards a multicultural, more inclusive history of New Zealand". It focuses on Irish migration in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, making new research accessible to the general reader. In the first chapter, Don Akenson, a Canadian-based professor of history, asserts that biculturalism is an inadequate framework with which to view the past. This theme surfaces throughout the book as the contributors illustrate the differences between Irish and English culture. Akenson also places New Zealand Irish in the context of the worldwide Irish diaspora.