Victoria University Press, 2006. Previous owner's name inside.

But this scholarly achievement was in many ways matched by the part he played in the intellectual and cultural life of New Zealand in his time. A prolific writer and critic he became committed to making New Zealand a more lively and civilised place to live, and through his work at Victoria University, his teaching, his involvement with the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust - among many such organisations - his influence was far reaching. Drawing on J.C. Beaglehole's own writing, especially his sparkling unpublished letters, the author has woven together all the aspects of his father's life into an immensely readable narrative. The two chapters on Beaglehole's work on James Cook create a picture of the historical scholar at work, and give the book an international significance.