With references to over a thousand newspaper articles, adverts, letters and public notices, besides books, journals and memoirs, Gold and Agriculture explores how working class colonists extracted wealth from the ground and elevated themselves to an independent life. Hear their arguments, share their concerns, and learn how they overcame great difficulties to establish communities in the wilderness of New Zealand.

The e-book version features a navigable table of contents and hyperlinks to all source material including individual newspaper articles. The paperback version features a comprehensive index and a list of all newspaper references. Both versions feature maps, a timeline and a bibliography.