The Big Smoke. New Zealand Cities 1840-1920

Abstract

This substantial book focuses on the social life of the New Zealand city between the 1840s and about 1920. The evocative title is an invitation to the reader, the term originally emerging to portray “the sense of anticipation and excitement” of going to and experiencing the city and city life. Its application historically to New Zealand cities as they began to grow is described as “surely aspirational – or ironical” (p. 29)