Whitcombe and Tombs, 1962. Reasonable second-hand condition. Tight binding and clean pages. Dust-jacket stained and chipped, previous owner's name on front endpaper.

A London business man who schemed to plant colonies in a country he had never seen . . .

An eccentric young man of French birth who dreamed of setting up his own kingdom . . .

A humble Maori youth who was lionised as a prince by London society . . .

New Zealand's first town planner, who from his London office planned a dream city on the Hutt River, complete with Billingsgate Fish Market and President's Palace!

These are some of the people, characters of varying importance in the story of New Zealand, who come to life in Curtain-Raiser to a Colony. Readers of The Dominion will have met many of them before, for the historical sketches contributed to that newspaper by Cecil and Celia Manson have a wide and loyal readership. The Mansons are often asked, 'When are these articles going to appear in book form?' As answer, here is an instalment.