This is a genuine social history of New Zealand, where the author glances at the houses people lived in, the food they ate, the booze they drank, the theatres they went to, the clothes they wore, the schools they went to, the religions they believed in. Accessible and simple - this is McLauchlan's 'personal' take on our history. The chapters cover: The young country; The origins of the Maori; The adaptation to NZ - the moa hunters, classic Maori culture, the arrival of Tasman and the visits of Cook; The missionaries arrive - early settlement, gold rushes, New Zealand wars; European expansion and development from the 1870s; Beginnings of prosperity, First World War, Great Depression; Second World War, boom of the fifties; End of the golden times, NZ adrift; Since 1990, paths to the future