Russophobia in New Zealand, 1838-1908

"From its earliest days, New Zealand has viewed Russia's presence in the Pacific as themain external threat. Professor Barratt, a specialist on Russian history, has examined New Zealand archives and uncovered a mixture of comedies of errors, and of deft attempts by the New Zealand government to use the threat of Russian expansion in the Pacific as a lever to obtain finanical assistance from Great Britain. Editorials, letters, reports, cartoons even, have been used for the picture of a serio-comic episode in the history of the South Pacific. At the same time "Russophobia in New Zealand 1838-1908" is a scholarly contribution to the emerging history of the Pacific basin as a whole." -- Inside front cover.