Backlist > History

This is the story of the newspaper correspondence column Dot's Little Folk and those who wrote to it. Little Folk was the first correspondence column for children in a New Zealand newspaper. It became the largest feature column of any kind in the history of New Zealand journalism, and it gave rise to a social and literary movement among this country's youth, that can only be called a culture. 'Dear Dot, I was six years old this birthday. I had a party with a cake and icing. Mamma is helping me write this. I have three sisters, two ... read more

Christchurch: A Nostalgic Tribute is a remarkable photographic record of a city now so drastically changed, after the 2010 & 2011 earthquakes. When recently sorting through his photographic library, photographer, Peter Morath, realised that he had a 'time capsule' of images, many of which were taken in the 1990's. They show his "much loved City of Christchurch" in a colourful, retrospective light. Firstly, there are some pictures showing the earthquakes' devastation. Secondly, the collection steps back several years, with beaut... read more

A hauntingly beautiful photographic guide to the lore and landscapes of the vampire, from the master of gothic imagery Using infrared film to convey the ethereal atmosphere of his subjects, Marsden has traveled from Germany to the United States, and Slovakia to Scotland as he hunts out the vampires of myth and literature, and real individuals suspected of vampirism. His images include sites of perennial fascination, such as Vlad Dracul's ruined palace in the wilderness of Romania, and more recent places of vampire pilgrimage, like ... read more

The Pacific Islands remain for most people a region of obscurity or puzzlement. The attention of news media is attracted by atypical events such as political violence that contradict the peaceful tourist image of sun, sea and smiling faces. Journalists, travellers, business people and the general public have few paths to access specialised knowledge about the complex and changing 'neighbourhood' to New Zealand's north and Australia's northeast. Ian Campbell's History of the Pacific Islands, first published in 1989, served this purp... read more

This remarkable collection of letters provides a rare female perspective on life in colonial Canterbury, when letter writing was the only way to keep a close relationship with family members on the other side of the world. The writers were four women of the Hall family. Unlike Charlotte Godley and Lady Barker, whose correspondence, experiences and impressions of the time have been widely promulgated, the Hall women were anonymous members of the middle class in England with no ties with the aristocracy. But ironically, the le... read more

For over a century rugby has been New Zealand’s national game, an obsession that has helped define a small country and mould its people – Maori and Pakeha Having a Ball looks at the triumphs and disasters, the amateur code that morphed into the professional era, the game at the local park and internationals in huge arenas, as well as rugby’s effect on the national psyche and the agendas of politicians. It is a story brilliantly told in a short introduction and through the perceptive, telling and funny insights of New Zealand’s ... read more

The Maori people of New Zealand were experienced field engineers and it was common practice to protect villages with surrounding entrenchments and wooden palisades, known as pas. However, it was not until 1845, with the first fighting between the Maori and the British, that it became clear just how strong and sophisticated the Maori fortifications were. For the best part of 20 years, the Maori held off the dominant and technologically superior British forces, by adapting and developing their defences in response to new British assa... read more

Ernest Shackleton was obsessed by the Antarctic. He wanted to be first to the South Pole, partly for the glory but also because he felt he had to redeem himself after Scott sent him back on the relief ship in 1903, because of his “ill health”. Here, gathered together for the first time, are 156 letters and telegrams exploring the inner thoughts of an heroic man with far-reaching dreams. The author details the history leading up to the expedition, through the trials of the year on the ice and the various journeys and then the ... read more

Format: 210 x 148 mm portrait, softcovered Pages: 184 Weight: 280 grams On a fine summer evening in 1994, businessmen Eugene Thomas and Gene Thomas were gunned down in their Wellington offices in a mysterious 'gangland' style slaying. The police's principal suspect, John Robert Barlow, was to undergo three controversial trials for their murder before being finally convicted the following year. Fred McLean here examines the facts and myths of this and 15 other solved and unsolved New Zealand murders, including: * The Orm... read more

"At last our story is told. Now the brave ancestors we have hidden for so long stand again for all to see." With these words the Elders of Waitaha tell us that their ancient and sacred lore is shared for the first time. Bound in secrecy for centuries, protected through the ages by those who gave their lives to keep it safe, this knowledge travels out of the past to be revealed in Song of Waitaha. Song of Waitaha repairs the torn fabric of our past and opens doors into the future. The Histories tell of a society where many peoples w... read more

Our elder grandmothers instructed the teachers of the families to: "hide our nation, hide our information, hide our belief systems in the wananga of silence, to wait the time of Tumstswera..."
The teachers kept everything hidden in the mokopuna. The grandchild became the nation's library and all information was concealed inside the minds of the mokopuna.
Whispers of Waitaha: traditions of a nation tells simply of the oral transfer of information from grandparent to grandchild. This transfer, allowing for the "moko", des... read more

Tara Arctic is about the expedition Grant Redvers led aboard Tara, formerly Sir Peter Blake’s Seamaster, which drifted, frozen solid in pack ice, in the Arctic for 18 months during 2006-08. The expedition was a significantpart of Damocles, the leading project for the European Union within the fourth International Polar Year. Damocles aimed to observe, understand, and quantify the Arctic climate changes to assist global warming decision-making.     Grant Redvers was leader during the whole expedition. There was... read more

In 1957 on the Antarctic Plateau Sir Edmund Hillary, the great New Zealand mountaineer, raced his expedition leader, Vivian Fuchs, to the South Pole for reasons that were never fully explained. Hillary’s spin was that the Pole was there and he had time and fuel to get there first: so he did. Hillary’s actions threw Fuchs’ Trans Antarctic Expedition into confusion. When he then suggested that Fuchs halt his march across Antarctica at the Pole and return a year later to complete the historic crossing, Hillary appea... read more

Two Men of Mana is a colourful collection of stories about Wairarapa's early days. The 25 chapters bring 19th century New Zealand to life with true tales about people, places and memorable moments. There are the challenges of pioneering life - from arduous journeys to the ever-present fear of fire - and the personalities who helped shape settler society. There are poignant love stories and no-holds-barred politics. There are shipwrecks on the coast and a tumultuous reception when the railway finally reached Masteron. These illustra... read more

DoP 2009, NZ Masterton's Queen Elizabeth Park sits on a 'publick reserve' set aside when the town was first surveyed in 1854. It has hosted the town's stockade, the district's first Pastoral Show and, for a period in the 1920s, the world's fastest time for a mile run on a grass track. Gareth Winter, archivist and garden writer, traces the development of the park and its associated reserves, including the town cemetry, from its days as a rough paddock leased for grazing to today's expansive reserve. Along the way he tells of the ... read more

While the British were sending settlers to the North Island in 1840, the French were sending them to the South Island. This book looks at the elaborate French government-backed plans to settle and annex 'Southern New Zealand' - and at what the French did when they found the British had got there first. The lives of the French (and German) men, women and children who ended up creating little settlements in Akaroa Harbour is a major focus of this fascinating book, which also explains some of the French heritage that attracts so many ... read more

Elizabeth Gordon discusses the devlopment and evolution of the New Zealand accent from the earliest days when children of the early settlers spoke with the dialects of their parents, through the remarkably short period of time to when people began to accuse children and others of speaking with an odious 'colonial twang'. Various English dialects and Maori also contributed to the mix to produce a unique New Zealand voice. First published 2008.

The Three Mile Bush straddled the road between Greytown and Masterton, settled in 1854. In 1856 the Wellington Provincial Council decided to establish a new settlement on the road through the area, soon to be renamed Caterton. The Look Of Caterton tells of the town's and district's beginnings and progress over the last 150 years. The informative text marks the milestones along the decades from the early sawmilling era to today's bustling service town, but the story is principally told through a collection of photographs that insta... read more

This is a groundbreaking account of New Zealand's most famous publishing house. It traces its evolution from a Dunedin mail order supplier of Sunday school material into a dynamic publishing business. The frank revelations in the book add spice and interest to a wonderful story.

This book captures a piece of New Zealand history that is not well known. The small group of people described in it had a strong influence on the thinking of others as New Zealanders later grappled with the issues raised by the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and the nuclear ships issue more recently. Allan Handyside spent nearly four years in Rangipo Prison, in the central North Island, from 1942–46, for refusing to join the armed forces in World War II. He had already been in Mt Crawford prison, Wi Tako P... read more