Exploring Maori Values by John Patterson

$39.95 NZD

Category: NZ Society

This book, first published in 1992, offers Pakeha New Zealanders an insight into Maori thought and values and the basis for the sort of understanding and partnership that should exist between Pakeha and Maori. It also presents a new perspective from which long-held Pakeha values can be reassessed. John Patterson attempts, as an investigative philosopher, to come to grips with personal, embedded limitations that inform any look into one world-view from the perspective of another. He demonstrates a high degree of empathy with and respect for Maori and the book offers a practical model for engagement with this culture and for greater mutual understanding. ...Show more

this way: covering/uncovering tadeusz borowski’s this way for the gas, ladies and gentlemen by Edited by Marco Sonzogni

$34.99 NZD

Category: History

this way: covering/uncovering tadeusz borowski’s this way for the gas, ladies and gentlemen is a scholarly work that uses Borowski’s stories to explore the relationship between verbal and visual representations of war and genocide through critical analysis of the entries in an international competition for a new cover for Borowski’s book. This Way includes an extensive critical apparatus: foreword, introduction, academic essays, commentaries on the book covers, afterword, and notes. Authors and advisors include noted authorities on the Holocaust, Holocaust literature and Holocaust representation. Book cover contest judges and contributors  John Bertram is the Editor of Venus febriculosa (www.venusfebriculosa.com) and the Coordinator of This Way Project (www.thiswayproject.org), Los Angeles, USA.  Dov Bing is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, The University of Waikato, New Zealand.  Simone Gigliotti is Senior Lecturer in History, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.  Barbara Girs is the daughter of Anatol Girs, Borowski’s mentor and the publisher of We Were in Auschwitz (1946).  Kessem Goldberg is a former student of Moriah School and a current student of Wellington Girls College, New Zealand.  John Guzlowski is Professor Emeritus of Contemporary American Literature, Eastern Illinois University, USA.  Nora Guzu is a student of Wellington Girls College, New Zealand.  J. Marek Haltof is Professor of English, Northern Michigan University, USA.  Berel Lang is Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Letters, Wesleyan University, USA.  Giacomo Lichtner is Senior Lecturer in History, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.  Alicia Nitecki is Professor Emerita of English, Bentley University, USA.  Jae Jennifer Rossman is Assistant Director for Special Collections, Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, Yale University. Marco Sonzogni is Senior Lecturer in Italian at Victoria University of Wellington. Beata Stoczynska is the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to New Zealand.  Monica Tempian is Lecturer in German, School of Languages and Cultures, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.  Shemi Tzur is the Ambassador of Israel to New Zealand.      ...Show more

The Problem of Prisons: Corrections Reform in New Zealand Since 1840 by Greg Newbold

$49.95 NZD

Category: History | Reading Level: Very Good

Ever since the penitentiary became a mainstream corrections device two centuries ago, there has been a continuous search for something that 'works' in terms of reforming criminal offenders. In its correctional evolution New Zealand has been primarily influenced by developments in England and the United States. It has also been creative in finding its own directions. This has resulted in many variations in government policies, each directed towards the objective of reducing crime. This book weighs the complex factors that have driven New Zealand's correctional philosophy and practice since 1840. For more than 160 years New Zealand has struggled to find a formula for dealing with criminals in a humane, workable and effective way. For the most part, the quest has failed. Deterrent, retributive, reformative, custodial and community programmes have all had their day and not one has proved to be significantly better than any other in the general treatment of criminality, and reoffending rates remain quite uniform. Greg Newbold's latest book examines this international problem and suggest why the reformation of criminals is so difficult. First published march 2007. ...Show more

In View of Kapiti (2nd ed) by Barbara Macmorran

$34.95 NZD

Category: History | Reading Level: Very Good

This compact history reveals the colourful and fascinating past of the Kapiti Coast. This area of New Zealand, once both desired and fought over by Maori, was the focus of much missionary work and early European settlement from the mid 1800s.More manageable land and conditions that allowed for abundant food production drew early farmers from Wellington. As time passed, the beach settlements and relatively luxuriant climate provided by the shelter of Kapiti Island attracted holidaymakers and later commerce. The settlements dotted along the coast became thriving townships that in time were linked by rail, leading to enormous population growth. Kapiti Island itself enchants all who either catch a glimpse of, or live in sight of it ? one day a dark and solitary shape, the next a misty and alluring floating form. While it is a very successful reserve and bird sanctuary today, its past has not been tranquil ? it has seen much of whaling, wars and intrigue.This popular book ? now reprinted after many years absence ?offers much to anyone curious about the past of this specialcoastal area. ...Show more

Ravaged Beauty: An Environmental History of the Manawatu by Catherine Knight

$49.99 NZD

Category: History

While "Ravaged Beauty" is about the environmental history of one North Island region, the impact of human settlement and accompanying development for improving human settlement conditions is typical of many New Zealand regions. This impact, graphically illustrated in this well researched and entertainin gly told history, gained great pace with the arrival of European settlers in the mid 1800s. Only a century and a half ago, the Manawatu was a heavily forested hinterland: the floodplains were a sea of swamps and lagoons, teeming with birdlife, eels and other fish; the hills and terraces were covered with thick impenetrable forest, refuge perhaps to a few lingering moa. But within a few decades, the forest had been reduced to ashes, and the swamps and lagoons were being drained away. Progress marched across the landscape in the form of farms and settlements. However, it wasn't long before nature "exacted its revenge": erosion scarred the hillsides, floods ravaged farms and towns. Pollution of the rivers saw fish dying en masse. How would the people of the region meet these environmental challenges, and what lessons would there be for the future? By "peeling away the layers", this book tells the intriguing story of the Manawatu's environmental history, drawn from a rich array of sources, maps and historical images. ...Show more

Persona Non Grata: Breaking the Bond - Fiji and New Zealand 2004-2007 by Michael Green

$37.99 NZD

Category: Politics

This is the account by (the late) Michael Green, NZ High Commissioner in Fiji, of his years and role in Fiji until the surprising announcement of his change in diplomatic status to "Persona Non Grata" (unwelcome person) in 2007, a status that prevented any further diplomatic activities or role for him i n that country. On his return to New Zealand Michael Green felt compelled to write an account of his time in these islands with which New Zealand, along with Australia and the United Kingdom, has had very close links and considerable influence over a long period. His tour of duty coincided with internal political shifts in Fiji's politics that would lead to the 2006 military coup that established Commodore Frank Bainimarama as unelected leader/interim president of these Pacific islands - a position he still holds six years on. New Zealand has since this time had to watch events unfold from a distance, having taken the necessary stance of severing diplomatic relations with Fiji. Long-supplied aid, trade, and most importantly the provision of educational expertise - always New Zealand's greatest contribution to those islands - has since ceased, and with the now lengthy incumbency of Frank Bainimarama as Fiji's military and political leader, New Zealand can but look on in the hope that democratic politics will eventually return to Fijian people. ...Show more

Samuel Marsden : Altar Ego by Richard Quinn

$34.95 NZD

Category: History | Reading Level: Good - Very Good

An in-depth examination of first missionary Samuel Marsden's New Zealand endeavours. The author researched Marsden's life and activities in New South Wales and in New Zealand and found a challenging dichotomy between his behaviour and reputation in Australia, where he is loathed, and in New Zealand wher e he has been little researched, but where he holds 'saint-like' status. ...Show more

The First Colonist: Samuel Deighton, 1821-1900 by Michael Butler

$39.99 NZD

Category: History

A fascinating insight into early New Zealand history. Draws on letters between Deighton and government officials: Deighton, from Cambridge, England, was the first ashore from the first ships which landed off Petone in Wellington Harbour in 1840; he held land orders from the New Zealand Company and fough t in the Maori wars; he became an interpreter and a resident magistrate; he served as a magistrate and Native Land Court Judge in the Chatham Islands; he wrote the first Moriori dictionary (included in appendices); letters provide information and understanding of land purchases and Maori-European relationships. ...Show more

White Collars and Gumboots: a History of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1892-1992

$39.95 NZD

Category: History

A Nun Always: The Story of Teresa Grigolini, an Italian Missionary Sister in the Sudan, 1876–98 by Thérèse Pickard

$32.99 NZD

Category: History

This extraordinary but true story of Sister Teresa Grigolini, missionary in the Sudan from 1878, is both an uplifting heroic one and a dark and terrible one. Captured by the Islamist Mahdists in 1882, this Nun and others of her community became slaves, constantly abused and threatened with death, over w hat became interminable years. Some of them died in these appalling conditions, but no threat could persuade them to give up their faith as was demanded constantly of them. The personal and tragic life events of Teresa Grigolini occur at the time of the rise of the Mahdists against the long and oppressive rule of the Sudan by Egypt, supported by English colonial interests, the 1885 fall of Khartoum, and eventually the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, the decisive event in the retaking of Khartoum and the Sudan by Horatio Kitchener’s Anglo-Egyptian army. In 1898 the remaining few of the missionary captives were freed after sixteen years in captivity, but life for Sister Teresa had changed forever. Her story has been pieced together from her own and other letters. These documents enchant, edify, shock and sadden, but ultimately leave the reader with spirits raised for the love, strength and commitment of a remarkable woman.   ...Show more

An Energetic Life: an autobiography by Colin Maiden

$37.99 NZD

Category: History

Colin Maiden was a New Zealand Rhodes Scholar at Oxford in the late 50s, a research engineer in Canada and a leading General Motors scientist and executive in the US, Vice Chancellor of the University of Auckland for 24 years, and professional company director or chair of companies such as NZ Synthetic Fuels, NZ Refining, Transpower, Fisher & Paykel, Farmers, NZ Steel, DB Breweries and Tower. Few other New Zealanders have been involved at the highest levels in such a variety of activities in New Zealand and overseas. Sir Colin describes a truly energetic life, and revealed, as the reader travels with him, are the talents and considerable contribution of a New Zealander who has earned the respect of many in this country's top institutions and corporations. In the US as a research engineer, he was heavily involved in the space and antiballistic missile defence programmes. He returned to New Zealand in 1971 to take up the vice-chancellorship of the University of Auckand, his long tenure involving significant change to that institution and in government policy concerning tertiary education. His skills and experience over many years made him sought after by both government and business in broadranging power and manufacturing businesses and he retains some of these positions today. His story provides fascinating insights into the operations and challenges of many of these businesses. ...Show more

The Blind Impress by Michael Jackson

$19.95 NZD

Category: History | Reading Level: very good

The Pawelka manhunt of 1910 and Joe Pawelka's prison escape and disappearance are recounted.Michael Jackson looks into the unsolved mystery surrounding Pawelka and explains the hold this 'man against the world' had on our consciousness. He intercuts recollections of his own life in small-town New Zealan d, creating an allegoary about the ways in which the past shapes the present. ...Show more