"Frederick Maning was the best-known Pakeha-Maori. Arriving in the Hokianga region in the 1830s, he married a high-ranking Nga Puhi woman and had four children. Maning recorded his experiences in the book 'Old New Zealand', a classic of colonial literature. He advised Maori against signing the Treaty of Waitangi, but he changed sides to fight with pro-government Maori tribes during the war in the north. Later, as a judge on the newly created Maori Land Court, his attitudes towards Maori began to change. Always controversial, Maning's adventurous and tragic life is explored here by John Nicholson, a relative of Maning's"--Publisher's website.