Pathway of the Birds: The Voyaging Achievements of the Maori and their Polynesian Ancestors by Andrew Crowe

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

Pathway of the Birds explores a neglected epoch of world history, one that saw Polynesians expand their territory across the world's largest ocean in one of the most expansive and rapid phases of human migration in prehistory. Were Polynesians adept at navigating return voyages or had they settled the P acific in a more random fashion? In an effort to find out, Crowe surveys a wealth of evidence from surprisingly diverse sources, including archaeology, palaeoecology, genetics, ethnology and linguistics, and presents it here in the context of Polynesian poetry, the long-distance migration of birds, non-instrument navigation, and wind tunnel experiments. From this, a spell-binding picture emerges of a people who have been deprived of recognition for some of their most illustrious achievements. Through an engaging narrative, integrating a diversity of research and viewpoints, and over 400 maps, diagrams, photographs and illustrations, Crowe conveys the skills, innovation, resourcefulness and courage of the people that drove this extraordinary feat of maritime expansion in a format that is both accessible to the lay reader and required reading for any serious scholar of this fascinating region. ...Show more

Wonderland: The New Zealand Photography of Whites Aviation by Peter Alsop

$49.99 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

Searching for Charlie: In Pursuit of the Real Charles Upham VC and Bar by Tom Scott

$49.99 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham is the only combat soldier ever to win the Victoria Cross twice. His acts of bravery in World War II meant he probably deserved six more.   The mystery of how a reserved, modest, slightly built farm valuer from New Zealand, could be so ferocious and fearless in battle has i ntrigued and fascinated Tom Scott ever since he read about Charles Upham as a schoolboy. ‘Searching for Charlie’ is his epic quest to unravel the “real” Charles Upham. ...Show more

The Quick and the Dead by Cynric Temple-Camp

$40.00 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

Dr Cynric Temple-Camp's suspense-filled, often Gothic story-telling ability captivated readers in his debut book, The Cause of Death. In the Quick and the Dead, New Zealand's self-confessed aficionado of death is back with more mysterious illnesses, gruesome murders, baffling crimes, and the other curio us, scarcely believable ways people meet their demise.The Quick and the Dead is also a book about life and the margins of survival - why some people live and others don't when faced with a seemingly similar peril. How much does luck, fate and chance play its part? What is the difference between life and death? What separates the quick and the dead? ...Show more

Brilliant Maps: An Atlas for Curious Minds by Ian Wright

$45.00 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

See the world anew with this unique and beautifully designed infographic atlas. Which nations have North Korean embassies? What percentage of young people live with their families? Which country lists volleyball as its national sport? How much does it cost to get a pint around the world? And where can you find lions in the wild? Revelatory, thought-provoking and fun, Brilliant Maps is a unique atlas of culture, history, politics and miscellanea, compiled by the editor of the iconic Brilliant Maps website. As visually arresting as Information is Beautiful and as full of surprising facts and figures as any encyclopaedia, Brilliant Maps is a stunning piece of cartography that maps our curious and varied planet. For graphic design enthusiasts, compulsive Wikipedia readers and those looking for the sort of gift they buy for someone else and wind up keeping for themselves, this book will change the way you see the world and your place in it. ...Show more

Down South by Bruce Ansley

$49.99 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

In Down South, writer Bruce Ansley goes on a journey back to his beloved South Island. From Curio Bay to Golden Bay, in Down South writer Bruce Ansley sets off on a vast expedition across the South Island, Te Waipounamu, visiting the places and people who hold clues to the south's famous character. Not so very long ago, the South Island had most of New Zealand's people and just about all of the money. Gold miners found fortunes in the hills and rivers, sheep barons straddled mountains, valleys and plains. Wealthy southerners ruled the government. Where now lies the South Island's golden fleece? And what is its future? ...Show more

Aotea Great Barrier - Land and People by Chris Morton; Pippa Blake (Foreword by); Peter Malcouronne

$70.00 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

If New Zealand has everything imaginable within a day¿s drive, then Great Barrier Island has pretty much everything within an hour. Rugged basalt bays on the west side, a mountainous interior and white-sand beaches on the east coast, serene one moment, savage the next - it¿s not for nothing the island i s called Great Barrier. The book consists of five chapters ¿ sea, beach, land, bush and the mountains. Each of these landscapes is explored through the eyes of 12 different locals, who describe a favourite part of the island and explain why it has special meaning for them. In the process, they capture the essence of a community that is unlike any other. Perhaps more than anywhere else in New Zealand, there is a determination to retain what it is that makes the Barrier special, and discovering, defining what that is, is the theme of this book. Created around Chris Morton¿s spectacular and evocative photographs, and a thoughtful and authentic text from Peter Malcouronne, this is a unique and special book, a tribute to this ruggedly beautiful island and the community that love it. ...Show more

Wild at Heart by Miriam Lancewood

$36.99 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

  Gripping sequel to the international bestseller Woman in the Wilderness, Miriam Lancewood's story of the quest for a simple life, unfettered by society's norms. Miriam Lancewood's first book Woman in the Wilderness told her story of living for seven years in the wilderness of New Zealand with her hus band, hunting and gathering, and roaming the mountains like nomads. Miriam and Peter left New Zealand to explore other wild places. They walked 2000 km through the forests of Europe and along the coast of Turkey, mostly camping under trees and cooking by fire. They lived on the edge, embracing insecurity, and found the unexpected: sometimes it was pure bliss, sometimes it was terrifying. But when they moved on to the Australian desert, they met with disaster. This gripping story is about life and death, courage and the power of love ...Show more

Auckland Architecture - A Walking Guide Fifty Buildings Six Routes by John Walsh; Patrick Reynolds (Photographer)

$20.00 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction | Reading Level: very good

In this handy pocket guide, well-known architecture writer John Walsh teams up with architectural photographer Patrick Reynolds to offer a self-guided walking tour of 50 significant Auckland buildings, from the Victorian era to the brand new. The sparkling and informative text is accompanied by maps for each of the six routes. ...Show more

Gottfried Lindauer's New Zealand: The Maori Portraits (Paperback Edition) by Ngahiraka Mason and Zara Stanhope (editors)

$59.99 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

An exquisite piece of art publishing that showcases Bohemian artist Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand in 75 plates and detailed contextual essays. From the 1870s to the early twentieth century, the Bohemian immigrant artist Gottfried Lindauer travelled to marae and rural towns around New Zealand and – c ommissioned by Māori and Pākehā – captured in paint the images of key Māori figures. For Māori then and now, the faces of tūpuna are full of mana and life. Now this definitive book on Lindauer’s portraits of the ancestors collects that work for New Zealanders.The book presents 67 major portraits and 8 genre paintings alongside detailed accounts of the subject and work, followed by essays by leading scholars that take us inside Lindauer and his world: from his artistic training in Bohemia to his travels around New Zealand as Māori and Pākehā commissioned him to paint portraits; his artistic techniques and deep relationship with photography; Henry Partridge’s gallery of Lindauer works on Queen Street in Auckland where Māori visited to see their ancestors; and the afterlife of the paintings in marae and memory. For Māori, the faces that look out from Lindauer’s portraits are tribal leaders and family members. They are tohunga and politicians. They are ancestors and friends. Gottfried Lindauer met Maori tūpuna at the most basic level of human connection by capturing their likeness. This book returns the ancestors and the artist to the people. ...Show more

The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West by David Kilcullen

$40.00 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

Soldier-scholar David Kilcullen shows what opponents of the West have learned during the last quarter-century of conflict. Just a few years ago, people spoke of the US as a hyperpower -- a titan stalking the world stage with more relative power than any empire in history. Yet as early as 1993, newly ap pointed CIA director James Woolsey pointed out that although Western powers had 'slain a large dragon' by defeating the Soviet Union in the Cold War, they now faced a 'bewildering variety of poisonous snakes'. In this book, Killcullen explains what happened to the 'snakes' (non-state threats, including from terrorists and guerrillas) and the 'dragons' (state-based competitors such as Russia and China). He explores how enemies learn under conditions of conflict, and examines how Western dominance over a very particular, narrowly defined form of warfare has forced adversaries to adapt in ways that present serious new challenges to America and its allies. State and non-state threats have increasingly come to resemble each other, Kilcullen argues, with states adopting non-state techniques and non-state actors now able to access levels of precision and lethal weapon-systems once only available to governments. A counterintuitive look at this new, vastly more complex environment, The Dragons and the Snakes not only reshaped our understanding of the West's enemies' capabilities, but also shows how we can respond, given the increasing limits on US power. ...Show more

The Health of the People (BWB Texts) by David Skegg

$15.00 NZD

Category: NZ non-fiction

In August 2016, forty per cent of the residents of Havelock North were suddenly struck down by a serious bacterial infection. The outbreak of campylobacter, caused by the contamination of the water supply with sheep faeces, hospitalised forty-five people and left at least three dead. Eminent public heal th researcher David Skegg argues that the Havelock North campylobacter outbreak was not a random event. Instead, it highlights fundamental weaknesses in our country's health infrastructure. To prevent future public health disasters, he explains, New Zealand must invest in society-wide public health. There also needs to be political will to counteract the forces that damage health. Personal health care is important, but we neglect public health at our peril. ...Show more