Claims of pre-Maori civilisation in New Zealand, such as those made by Kaipara maritime explorer Noel Hilliam, are messing with history and adding nothing to the realm of knowledge, says history professor Paul Moon.
To the Ends of the Earth, co-authored by Maxwell C Hill and Gary Cook, with input from retired Dargaville farmer and shipwreck explorer Mr Hilliam, is built around the premise Greek-Egyptians lived here thousands of years ago.
Dr Moon, of the Auckland University of Technology, is also warning readers to take Ian Wishart's latest book, The Great Divide, with a grain of salt. That book also supports the view pre-Maori civilisations occupied New Zealand.
He is concerned about the "soft-core" denial of the role of Maori in New Zealand being promulgated by self-published authors with an agenda to discredit tangata whenua status.
Dr Moon said The Great Divide disregarded recorded and oral history and the heavily research-based background to Waitangi Tribunal claims, and implied "that academics have somehow misrepresented our history. This is, of course, preposterous."