The quotations in the first chapter and the epilogue are from Papers Past, a searchable database of newspapers published in New Zealand in the last two hundred years. It was in Papers Past that I discovered a coroner’s inquest detailing the death of Paul Christensen Nissen, my great grandfather’s brother, and Jens Lund his cousin. The news story led to the creation of this fictional story. Sergeant Frank Hardy and Mette Jensen are my own creations, although sometimes it’s hard to believe they were not real people.
The source of the story in the opening chapter was James Belich’s excellent book I Shall Not Die: Titokowaru’s War.
More details of the Land Wars can be found on Papers Past or on TeAra, the online Encyclopedia of New Zealand.