The way some histories tell it, Europeans came to New Zealand keen to establish a little Britain in the South Seas. Not so, says Chris Trotter. Most nineteenth century immigrants wanted something better than the misery and oppression of the world they had left, and Trotter reveals just how close they and their descendants came to building a new one. On each occasion, however, their achievements were resisted, and ultimately overturned, by those who saw New Zealand simply as a source of profits.