My pick for the highlight of a good year's reading in 2014 is University of Otago Prof Tom Brooking's massive, scholarly biography of Richard John or ''King Dick'' Seddon.
Why? Well, first Seddon is regularly voted No 1 premier/prime minister by political scientists and historians. He was our longest-serving PM. His Liberal government instituted many of the social policies that still colour our political consensus. He's important.
Second, Brooking adds to recent historiography that has replaced old scholarship that treated the Liberals as worthy but musty predecessors to the Labour ascendancy. Ballance, Reeves, Seddon and McKenzie can now be seen as icebreakers in their own right.
Third, Brooking's scholarship is impressive. He has delved into the archives but has also walked his talk, following his subject's steps through Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
Finally, it shows what an interesting man he was. He may have dropped his aitches and played dumber than he was (Keith Holyoake was the last to do this), but he was fairly well-educated and he was an enthusiastic reader and learner.
Brooking portrays a more rounded picture of Seddon. Seddon would not pass a current PC test, but Brooking is not afraid to take on historians such as Judith Binney in offering a more nuanced picture of his views on race.
Brooking's Seddon was also more sympathetic to women's issues, hardly surprising depending how much he depended on his wife and daughters to carry his ordinary electorate business (and in the early days, to manage his pub).
Against the conventional understanding that the Liberals grew more conservative, Brooking shows that Seddon moved somewhat leftward towards the end, offering a middle ground between extremists on the left and right.
OK, at 600 pages, it may not be beachside reading, but this book is worth snuggling up with.
