War & Class: The Diary of Jack McCullough

Melanie Nolan (ed.)

Jack McCullough's diary, begun 100 years ago in 1908, records a period in New Zealand society beset with economic turmoil and war. McCullough was a political reformer - a pragmatic idealist who worked tirelessly to better the lives of his fellow citizens through protest, union and Arbitration Court activity in matters of industrial relations, wages and employment conditions.

His political activities took him close to the centres of power and he was a very influential figure in the developing socialism of the period. Through his diary his values and personal dilemmas, such as around his own and his son's pacifism during the war, are poignantly revealed.