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In the course of his political career GORDON COATES (1878-1943) experienced
the extremes of popular adulation and contempt. Handsome, young and
debonair, with the common touch, he was a successful minister in the early
1920s and seemed full of promise when he became Prime Minister in 1925 on
the death of W.F. Massey. Ten years later, after serving as Minister of
Finance in the Coalition Government during the Depression, his reputation
had sunk to its lowest ebb. He went on to serve with distinction in the War
Cabinet, winning the confidence and respect of former Labour opponents.
Dying suddenly in 1943, he left many friends and supporters, who to this day
regard him as one of New Zealand's political giants.
Michael Bassett follows his successful biography of Sir Joseph Ward with an
equally readable life of this younger Prime Minister. It is one of the few
scholarly biographies of a figure on the right of New Zealand politics.
With full access to the Coates family papers and to material gathered by
other researchers, Bassett is able to offer a thoughtful reassessment of the
achievements and failures of Coates's political career. He provides clear
explanations of the sometimes complex issues, drawing once again on his own
familiarity with the pressures and pleasures of political life. The study
of the politician is combined with a fascinating account of the private man
including his Northland origins, his farming background, his gallant
military service in the First World War, his personal and family life, and
his character.
This book is available from Auckland University Press, Box 92-019, Auckland, New Zealand.
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