The letters in this book, drawn from the Alexander Turnbull Library’s large Thomas King collection, provide an intriguing look at the pleasure and pressures of colonial life and an insightful journey into a Victorian marriage. While much has been revealed about the lives of 19th-century women, perspectives on men during this time have been slow to emerge from behind the positions they held or the jobs they did. These letters follow Thomas King’s life from the young bachelor on New Plymouth Beach in 1841 to a family man well established in the worlds of business and politics. As such, they offer an extraordinary opportunity to consider the whole man.