Revising revisionist history: the 'Maori Achievement' and recent historiographical developments on 'The New Zealand Wars'

James Belich's seminal redescription of nineteenth century Maori-Pakeha conflict has recently been the subject of a spate of interpretative challenges. These critiques have focused especially on his notion that the Maori war effort of the 1860s had been the first example of an effective military response to the tactical necessities brought about by modern warfare. Since its publication in 1986 and despite these recent attacks, however, Belich's theses on the 'Maori Achievement' have hegemonised the recurrent debate on the origins of Aotearoa/New Zealand's exceptionality. The first part of this paper assesses this recent criticism of Belich's rendition of the land wars that engulfed Aotearoa/New Zealand during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The second part constitutes - fifteen years after the publication of The New Zealand Wars - an analytical reading of the historiographical role played by Belich's revisionist interpretation.