Confronting history

Historian and media commentator Paul Moon’s latest book This Horrid Practice delves into the subject of Maori cannibalism, the author arguing that the amount of evidence of the action was “overwhelming” and “too important to ignore.” Moon says the widespread practice of cannibalism was not a food issue, rather that people were eaten often as part of post-battle rage. Horrid Practice looks at how explorers and missionaries saw cannibalism, and in the final chapter, Moon discusses why some academics still deny that it ever happened. Moon is Professor of History at the Auckland University of Technology’s Te Ara Poutama, where he has taught since 1993. He is author of a number of books, including biographies of Governors William Hobson and Robert FitzRoy, and Nga Puhi chief, Hone Heke.