James Cowan (1870–1943) was probably New Zealand's most popular non-fiction writer of the first half of the 20th Century. He published over 30 books and hundreds of newspaper articles about New Zealand's colonial and Maori history. His two best known early works are The Maoris of New Zealand (1910) which is regarded as one of the first general works in English of Māori life and history; and The Adventures of Kimble Bent (1911) based on interviews with elderly Pakeha-Māori . However, the book for which Cowan's reputation as a historian now largely rests was The New Zealand wars: a history of the Maori campaigns and the pioneering period (1922–23). To write it he visited many battle sites and interviewed Māori and European veterans of the war and produced what became regarded the 'standard' work on the conflict's history which wasn't surpassed until the 1980s.
See the link to the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography below for further information.
