Between Worlds describes Cook's second and third voyages. It tells of a time when white people first lived on the shores of New Zealand, often joining Maori communities - the first so-called Pakeha-Maori. The story also covers the early visits of the missionaries Marsden and Kendall.

At the same time, young Maori men went to sea in European ships and explored the world. Their stories also make intriguing reading. Meanwhile Maori communities were working out their own strategies for dealing with the strangers in their midst. New ways of living began to emerge between Maori and European. Like Two Worlds before it, Between Worlds redefines our understanding of the earliest days of Maori and European interaction and forces us to rethink New Zealand's shared history.