Matthew Wright is one of New Zealand's most published historians, and his work has received both academic and popular recognition. He has written over 40 books on topics ranging from travel guides to biography, engineering, military and social history He is one of only two historians in New Zealand to have written both a general history of the country, and a history of the New Zealand wars. His book Hawke's Bay – The History of a Province (Dunmore 1994) won a J M Sherrard Award in local and regional history in 1996.