New Zealand Writers

BOHAN, Edmund

A leading authority on 19th century New Zealand political history.

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BOHAN, Edmund (1935 - ) is an historian and fiction writer who is a leading authority on 19th century New Zealand political history. He is also a former professional singer who, during a long career of over forty years, sang all over the world and released a number of commercial recordings.

Bohan's first published books, written while he was touring Britain as a singer, were historical novels for junior readers, The Writ of Green Wax (1990), and The Buckler (1972). During his time in the UK he was also commissioned to write a centennial history of the Incorporated Society of Musicians The First Hundred Years (1982).

On his return to New Zealand in 1987 Bohan decided to devote more time to writing and historical research. The first book published after his return was the acclaimed biography Edward Stafford: New Zealand's First Statesman (1994). The Daily Telegraph writes: "The book is essential reading for all interested in New Zealand history, philosophy or politics." The Nelson Evening Mail describes it as "a tour de force, one of the finest political biographies of the last decade."

Blest Madman: Fitzgerald of Canterbury (1998) was equally well-received. "Early provinical politics have not been popular for some time," writes The Evening Post, "but Bohan's book breathes life back into the genre... a rattling good yarn."

To Be a Hero: a biography of Sir George Grey (1998) confirmed Bohan's place as a pre-eminent political historian of the 19th century. In a letter to the editors of New Zealand Books, Michael Cooke writes, "Edmund Bohan's biography of Grey is written in a robust fashion, revealing more about the personality of this enigmatic Governor than any previous biography. Moreover, Bohan is a master of the deft phrase."

Bohan's biographies of Stafford and Grey were both shortlisted for the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, in 1995 and 1999 respectively. In 1995 he was the John David Stout Research Fellow at Victoria University's Stout Reserach Centre.

In addition to his histories and biographies, and his contributions to every volume of The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Bohan has written a series of historical detective novels featuring Inspector Patrick O'Rourke: The Opawa Affair (1996), The Dancing Man (1997) and The Matter of Parihaka (2000).

The appeal of these mysteries is described in a review of The Opawa Affair in New Zealand Books: "...much more than just a detective story. It is a well-researched and convincing study of attitudes and characters." Perhaps with a nod to Bohan's singing career, Metro describes the novel as "Grand and torrid on a truly operatic scale."

In The Evening Post Renee writes of The Matter of Parihaka: "At last, an accomplished New Zealand writer makes a good job of a crime novel... I enjoyed the story, the beautifully woven plot, the threads of which are handled skilfully and with ease, and I appreciated the well-researched historical background. Roll on the next Patrick O'Rourke...".

A new Inspector O'Rourke mystery, The Irish Yankee (2001) was runner up for the 2001 Richard Webster Popular Fiction Award.

(KC.)

Updated Information

Bohan's fifth - and possibly last - O'Rorke novel, A Present for the Czar, set in Christchurch during the great Russian invasion scare of 1885 was released in October 2003.

Burdon: A Man of Our Time (Hazard Press, 2004). An unbiased and in-depth account of one of New Zealand's most fascinating political eras and one of its key shapers. This is a review of the career and achievements of Philip Burdon, a committed - but never jingoistic - republican Nationalist New Zealander. As Minister of Trade Negotiations, he steered New Zealand through the labyrinth of GATT reforms that made up the Uruguay Round.

The House of Reed 1907- 1983; Great Days in New Zealand Publishing was published by Canterbury University Press in 2005.

Bohan's latest title is Climates of War; New Zealand in Conflict 1859-1869 (Hazard Press, 2005). It is an examination of the momentous, yet misunderstood decade of tribal, provioncial, national and international conflict whose legacies still underlie political and racial debate.