liberation

No Left turn: 'any student of politics or history should read' it

The conservative Dominion Post newspaper commissioned the rightwing National Party activist David Farrar (of Kiwiblog) to review Chris Trotter's leftwing No Left Turn history, and the result is an almost ecstatic endorsement of the book, with Farrar proclaiming that it's a book that 'any student of politics or history should read', and that it's 'one of those books which you find hard to put down'. [Read more below]

No Left Turn: 'helping us understand the world we live in'

Leftwing journalist Nicky Hager has reviewed fellow leftwing journalist Chris Trotter's No Left Turn and concludes that it's 'an excellent, readable, thought-provoking book'. This review published in the Listener - see Power & the people - concentrates on how No Left Turn is a history book with great relevance for understanding modern New Zealand politics. [Read more below]

No Left Turn: 'fervent, thorough, and idiosyncratic'

Chris Trotter's No Right Turn is approvingly described in the latest University of Otago's Critic magazine as 'a fervent, thorough, and idiosyncratic account' of NZ history. Not so much a review, as a springboard for dealing with the state of the NZ left and the union movement, Writing left-handed by Matthew Littlewood interviews leftists Trotter, Brian Roper and Matt McCarten about past and present politics. [Read more below]

No Left Turn: a defence of the new ‘distorters of history’

A critical review of Chris Trotter's book No Left Turn, by guest blogger John Moore.

A class-centred historical analysis is a rare thing in New Zealand today. The clash of classes that dominated much of this young nation’s 20th Century political landscape seems to have been discarded by most contemporary political commentators and academics to the dustbin of history. Chris Trotter is therefore to be commended for trying to do justice to the history of the working class movement in this country with his tome, No Left Turn. But he is also to be challenged for his defence of the new ‘distorters of history’. [Read more below]

Who runs New Zealand in 2007?

This country is run by businesspeople, politicians, and bureaucrats, with some help from the media, cultural and sporting figures. That’s the view of the Listener, as reflected in its annual Power List published this week (which is not initially available online in full form). This is the fourth time the Listener magazine has attempted to nail down who it is within New Zealand that are the most influential movers, shakers and drivers of life in this country. Although it’s an exercise in subjectivity and news-making rather than anything particularly rigorous, the annual power elite list does illustrates interesting trends and ideas about the powerful in NZ. [Read more below]