Patuone is mentioned in a large number of publications and manuscripts but not always accurately and with any authority. The most comprehensive work dedicated to him is the C.O.Davis book, "The Life and Times of Patuone, the Celebrated Ngapuhi Chief" (1876). Davis was a close friend of Patuone in his later years and was therefore in a position to clarify much about Patuone's life to the extent that Patuone was himself prepared to allow. As a famed chief of the 'old school', imbued with great mana Patuone had nothing to prove and was not interested in any adulation. He allowed his exploits to speak for themselves in the way of the great chiefs of old.
