"New Zealand is not only geographically the most remote of the Dominions in the British Commonwealth, but it is also possibly, one of the least known in the Mother Country. Sent abroad by his doctor after a heart attack in 1955, David Goldblatt went there initially for a short stay, but fell in love with it and remained for a year. He returned to England early in 1957, when he wrote this book, but the pull of New Zealand was too strong and he is back there again. He writes with all the love of the discoverer of a new found land, and yet with an insight which sees the blemishes as well as the charms. New Zealand is probably the most closely government controlled of all the free countries. In that sense it offers a unique field of study for those who are interested in the social development of democracy. Mr Goldblatt's book is not only a delightful introduction to an insufficiently understood Dominion, but an acute criticism of a society in which Government plays, perhaps, too large a role." -- Inside front cover.