''Monday's Warriors'' is a 1990 historical novel by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

author

Maurice Shadbolt Maurice Francis Richard Shadbolt (4 June 1932 – 10 October 2004) was a New Zealand writerRobinson and Wattie 1998 and occasional playwright. Biography Shadbolt was born in Auckland, and was the eldest of three children. He had a younger bro ...

. Part two of his New Zealand Wars trilogy. Set in mid-nineteenth century New Zealand, the story is a semi-fictionalized account of Titokowaru's War, told from the perspective of

Kimball Bent Kimball Bent (24 August 1837 – 22 May 1916), also known as Kimble Bent, was a soldier and adventurer, who deserted from the British Army during the New Zealand Wars and lived for several years among the Maori people of New Zealand. Biography ...

. Bent was an historical individual born in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, but had enlisted in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, where he was eventually posted to the

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

region of colonial New Zealand. Bent deserted and joined up with a local

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

chief of the Ngā Ruahine ''

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

'', where he became accepted as a member of the local tribe. In 1867, Bent joined other Ngāti Ruanui led by Titokowaru in their war against the colonists in

External links

Review in the ''Los Angeles Times''

References

1990 novels 20th-century New Zealand novels Novels set in New Zealand Novels set in the 19th century Novels by Maurice Shadbolt Works about Māori people Novels set during the New Zealand Wars {{1990s-war-novel-stub