I have a new book out next week. The battlecruiser New Zealand – a gift to Empire is being published in Britain by Seaforth, and in the United States by USNI Press. A little later this year it’s also being published in New Zealand by Oratia Books. It’s a very special book to me because … More The battlecruiser New Zealand – a gift to Empire
Although I can’t spill too many beans just now, as it were, I can tell you that 2020 is going to be a bumper year for me. My book Living On Shaky Ground was reissued in new and updated form a few weeks back. This week there’s been another new issue. Back in 2018 I … More A bit of publishing news
I’ve been writing articles for the US website Navy General Board for a while now. The latest is up – so, without further ado, hie thee hence and check it out! Click the photo to jump across, and please do admire the marvellous scrollwork on the bows on the way. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2019 … More The ‘other’ HMS Hood – my latest article for the Navy General Board.
All empires, it seems, decline and fall, often disgracefully. The one exception is the British Empire, which faded away in a quite civil manner by comparison with the usual way these entities collapse. It happened during the twentieth century, largely on the back of two world wars that effectively bankrupted Britain. By 1945 – when … More Britain’s last battleships – at last
It’s Waitangi Day here in New Zealand – the 174th anniversary of New Zealand’s founding as a Crown Colony, when Hone Heke became the first of around 40 Maori to sign a treaty with the British government at Waitangi (‘Weeping Waters’). Copies of the Treaty were subsequently taken around the country, and about 540 Maori subsequently … More Arguing about New Zealand’s founding Treaty
Matthew Wright 