Dead letters : censorship and subversion in New Zealand, 1914-1920 / Jared Davidson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davidson, Jared, 1984- author.

Contributor:

Class of 1932 Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Freedom of the press.

Government, Resistance to.

History.

Censorship.

New Zealand.

Censorship--New Zealand--History--20th century.

Government, Resistance to--New Zealand--History--20th century.

Freedom of the press--New Zealand.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

306 pages : illustrations, color maps ; 20 cm

Place of Publication:

Dunedin, New Zealand : Otago University Press, 2019.

Summary:

In 1918, from deep within the West Coast bush, a miner on the run from the military wrote a letter to his sweetheart. Two months later he was in jail. Like millions of others, his letter had been steamed open by a team of censors shrouded in secrecy. Using their confiscated mail as a starting point, Dead Letters: Censorship and subversion in New Zealand 1914–1920 reveals the remarkable stories of people caught in the web of wartime surveillance. Among them were a feisty German-born socialist, a Norwegian watersider, an affectionate Irish nationalist, a love-struck miner, an aspiring Maxim Gorky, a cross-dressing doctor, a nameless rural labourer, an avid letter writer with a hatred of war, and two mystical dairy farmers with a poetic bent. Military censorship within New Zealand meant that their letters were stopped, confiscated and filed away, sealed and unread for over 100 years. Until now. Intimate and engaging, this dramatic narrative weaves together the personal and political, bringing to light the reality of wartime censorship. In an age of growing state power, new forms of surveillance and control, and fragility of the right to privacy and freedom of opinion, Dead Letters is a startling reminder that we have been here before. The letters under discussion are anything but dead.

Contents:

Part I Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

1 A scheme of censorship p. 20

Part II Against King And Country

2 The only Germans among the worms p. 54

3 To hell with them all p. 74

4 For dearer the grave or the prison p. 94

5 The camp in the bush p. 116

Part III Spies, Sex And Subversion

6 Might is right p. 138

7 My Dear Doctor p. 160

8 Yours for Direct Action p. 178

9 Patriotism will not pay my bills p. 200

10 A new form of government p. 220.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-287) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1932 Fund.

ISBN:

9781988531526

1988531527

OCLC:

1061818061