A full-time historian based in sunny Papamoa, I have a special interest in researching, writing and teaching about the interaction of Maori and Pakeha in pre-Treaty New Zealand. My primary focus is the Europeans who voluntarily and involuntarily crossed cultures in the Pacific, particularly those in New Zealand referred to in the 19th-century literature as Pakeha Maori.

A regular contributor to NZ history journals and online blogs, the nine books I have written to date are: Pakeha Maori (1999), Captured by Maori (2004), Cannibal Jack (2008), Tribal Guns and Tribal Gunners (2014) Pakeha Slaves, Maori Master’ (2019), Transgressing Tikanga (2021), Pakeha Ta Moko (2022) and Pakeha-Maori Narratives (2023) and Early Maritime Tauranga (2024).

My current research and writing project is Te Kaewa – The Wanderers: Maori Sailors on Euro-American Whalers, 1790s-1890s.

Research and/or Literary awards include a Winston Churchill Fellowship, two Creative New Zealand research grants, a New Zealand History Trust Fund research award, a Michael King Writer’s Fellowship and currently, a Copyright Licencing NZ research award.