Thomas Lindsay Buick (1865-1938), a Wellington political journalist, wrote twelve books and numerous pamphlets on New Zealand's early history. In this book Buick recounts the events leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi, the controversial document signed by British officials and Maori chiefs which ceded New Zealand to the British Empire in 1840. Buick claims that the need for a formal handover of authority to Britain arose from the rowdy misdeeds of sealers, whalers, and escaped convicts from Australia, who needed to be kept in check.