Matthew Wright holds post-graduate degrees in history, has worked extensively as a professional historian and writer, and has published more than 550 articles, reviews, and 50 books on topics from travel to social history. His book 'Hawke's Bay: The History of a Province' (Dunmore, Palmerston North, 1994) won a J.M. Sherrard Award in local and regional history in 1996. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at University College, London.