This is a collection of linked essays on individuals and companies from 1931 to 1984 who contributed in major ways to building the New Zealand nation. It captures the intertwining of the lives of politicians, their advisers, and those influence them, as well as the ideas and experiences that drove them. While it focuses on economic strategy, the book also looks at the cultural, social, union, business, and foreign policy strands of nationbuilding....

Sir Joseph Ward (1856-1930) was the leading political figure during the forty-year life of the Liberal Party in New Zealand. He was a member of Ballance's first Cabinet, twice Prime Minister (1906-12 and 1928-30), and was still a Cabinet Minister at the time of his death. This lively biography is the story of an ambitious first-generation New Zealander of Irish Catholic parents who spent more than half a century in local and central government politics,...