Islands of the Dawn

This intriguing work, the first book-length treatment of the subject, raises a fundamental question: Why have unconventional spiritual movements flourished in nineteenth-century British settler communities? New Zealand typifies such a community with its immigration experience, the "do it yourself" spirit of pioneer society, a tradition of social reform, and a nostalgia for Victorian romanticism. A study of its new religious movements raises tantalizing answers and uncovers several fascinating but little-known episodes of New Zealand history. Of particular note are the tale of the secretive occult order that long flourished in Havelock North; an account of a grisly 1950s UFO encounter in Hamilton; and the life story of Elizabeth Harris-Roberts, the turn-of-the-century radical and apostle of spiritualism.