Our New Zealand nonfiction section features books and eBooks about travel, history, law and more. This list updates when we add new titles to our collection.
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Book
"A complete diary of one man who was born in London 1936. Memories of wartime England, bombing across London, and being evacuated to the country. Then as a young man growing up with all the consequent fumbles of puberty. The author joined the British...
"Birdboy observes the world through a pair of binoculars. Dog trots behind him at a distance, tongue lolling from its slobbery jowls, tail wagging. The memory of his dead mother, a strange man in yellow Y-fronts, a broken whisky bottle, his mobile phone....
"Louie and His Hard Case Buggers" is a memento of Lance's life including tales of many years hunting, fishing, and splicing rope. The book is jam-packed with Duncan's unadulterated humour, it had our proof-reader in stitches round the clock while working...
"What is a macron, why are they everywhere now, and does it make us as sophisticated as the French? Why do some people say Wongarei and others Faaangarei, and what would happen if they were both completely wrong? Has anyone ever told the inhabitants ...
"This is an historical record of the years that I have lived through, some sad, some glad, but all finally fulfilling. It is not meant to be a chronologically accurate account but rather a glance back over the years that have been and a chance to recall...
Libretti, Love and Laughter is a centenary celebration book filled with historical information, treasures, memories and wonderful anecdotes, along with numerous photos from throughout the years of the history of the Auckland Music Theatre.
eBook
Against a backdrop of many times and landscapes, the poems in Tigers at Awhitu, the first, luminous book by Sarah Broom, chart the drifts and tides of intimate relationships, the physical extremes of illness, the complexities of motherhood. Here a re...
With a range of poems from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and the Jerusalem period, full texts of major sequences 'Pig Island Letters' and the 'Jerusalem Sonnets', and key new poems directly from manuscript, Millar's selection reveals the breadth of Baxter'...
Independence and Foreign Policy is the first interpretive study of New Zealand foreign policy to cover the period 1935-91. Based on years of detailed research, it draws extensively on relevant sources both inside and outside government. It is also an...
The Nationbuilders is a collection of linked essays on individuals and companies in the years from 1931 to 1984 who contributed in major ways to building a nation. The book captures the intertwining lives of politicians, their advisers and their mentors,...
The New Zealand Wars is a powerful revisionist history. Revealing the enormous tactical and military skill of Maori, and the inability of the 'Victorian interpretation of racial conflict' to acknowledge those qualities, this account of the New Zealand...
"New Zealand rugby union player Neven MacEwan played 52 matches for the All Blacks from 1956 to 1962, including 20 internationals and two South African provincial matches as captain. In this frank and inspiring memoir, Neven talks about his early life,...
Based largely information from his personal diaries, tells the story of New Zealand soldier John Denvir, who fought in the ranks of the Yugoslav Partisan forces during World War II.
"Could millions of jobs soon be eliminated by artificial intelligence and robots? From driverless cars to digital assistants, it seems the world of work is on the cusp of a technological revolution. But are the robots really knocking at the door? And...
"With jaw-dropping endemic species such as Kiwi, Kea and Takahe, New Zealand is a birdwatcher's paradise. For New Zealand birders and visitors to the country alike, this innovative and useful book is the perfect accompaniment to a good field guide such...
The New Zealand Wars were a series of conflicts that profoundly shaped the course and direction of our nation's history. Fought between the Crown and various groups of Maori between 1845 and 1872, the wars touched many aspects of life in nineteenth century...
"The collapse of South Canterbury Finance (SCF) is one of the biggest New Zealand stories of the last decade. The sweep of events, from Timaru to the Beehive, includes some of the most revealing moments on issues critical to this country - from poor ...
"Ron Powell was born in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. His idyllic childhood, followed by war and post-war service with the Royal Marines Band, his emigration to New Zealand and his life and work in vaiours parts of his adopted country,...
"Child wellbeing is widely held as an aspiration of society. Not surprisingly, health policies commonly set out to improve wellbeing across the population. Health and developmental indicators collate individual measurements to describe population status...
"In 1975, Marilyn Waring was elected to the New Zealand Parliament as the MP for Raglan. Aged just 23, she was one of only a few female MPs who served through the turbulent years of Muldoon's government. For nine years, Waring was at the centre of ma...
"Shirley Smith was one of the most remarkable New Zealanders of the 20th century, a woman whose lifelong commitment to social justice, legal reform, gender equality and community service left a profound legacy. She was born in Wellington in1916. While...
Since the Colonial Museum opened in 1865 and the first director, Sir James Hector, began collecting items of geological and natural history significance, the collections of New Zealand's national museum have become enormously significant - not to men...
What the critics have said about Michael Richards' poems: "I've known Michael's poems from when we were both young men. Over the years, I, among others, have pushed him to collect the poems together. It's been a long wait for that to happen. But it has....
This book covers the heritage and life of Colonel Tristan Freitas Hegglun OBE, ED either side of World War Two. Two thirds of this book comprises transcribed excerpts from his diaries and letters home from the War, as recorded at the time, including ...
"Always an acute observer of people and the environment, in this new book Rosie Belton once again uses her diarist style to capture with intimacy and immediacy the events as they happened around her, in this case the earthquakes experienced by the people...
"In May 1940, a group of Auckland yachtsmen who were members of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve left for the war. Leonard Hill, a young Māori sailor, and his friends arrived in Singapore under siege. Playing to their strengths as small boat sailors,...
"An easy-to-use quick reference to events occuring night-by-night for naked-eye and binocular observers in New Zealand and Australia. Incorporating a Moon map and 24 detailed custom-drawn charts covering the entire night sky visible month-by-month, the...
"This is a story of two Cohens, the famous singer and his not-so-famous lifelong New Zealand fan. It spans several generations and locations, from the refugee waves of Europe of the 19th century to suburban New Zealand in the 1970s, late-night Montréal...
"Excited to finally finish the painting for our next book to be published this month called 'Frangipani whispers'. The original name was to be 'Frangipani smiles' but upon further thought of the content of some of the stories and poetry the final name...
Transplanted Christianity is a comprehensive collection of documents detailing the history of the church in New Zealand from its beginnings in the early nineteenth century to the present day. Informative introductions and explanations by Allan K. Davidson...
"Jeffrey Paparoa Holman examines a life lived over 70 years through rapid social changes and personal upheavals, from the 1950s to the 2000s, as he stumbles towards becoming the writer he believed he could be. Growing up on the West Coast in the shadow...
How do you publish, market and distribute a book in New Zealand? This book demystifies the self-publishing process and provides some much-needed clarity on the topic, with information and resources specific to New Zealand. Self-Publishing in New Zealand...
"It has controversy: I was labelled a 'dinosaur, a dissident and a traditionalist' - challenging NCEA was risky. But we were 'being sold a dog's breakfast.' But above all it has humour, a great deal of it: Did the male teacher who promised the women on...
The book documents our refuge's remarkable pathway over 30 years. It is about an organisation that supports beaten and abused women and children; this work is underpinned by our founding kaupapa of unconditional kindness and non-judgement. As the problem...
"A dialogue between a series of prose poems, following a protagonist through a mysterious and threatening landscape, and a series of verse poems, driven by the speaker’s compulsive hunger to make sense of things"--Publisher information.
"Ray Woolf - singer, actor and television host. Ray came to New Zealand as a 17-year old pop singer from London; He joined the wave of young New Zealanders in the likes of C'Mon and Happen Inn on New Zealand's only television channel; He fronted Ray Woolf...
"Abridged biographies for over 700 men who enlisted for WW1. Each contains the officer's name and time line, the names of his parents and siblings, a snapshot of the officer's banking career - pre and post war, an overview of his military service, names...
"In August 2016, forty per cent of the residents of Havelock North were struck down by a serious bacterial infection. Eminent medical researcher David Skegg argues that the outbreak highlights weaknesses in our country's health infrastructure - weakn...
"This book tells the life of Suzy Williams, who grew from British Army childhood to today being a recently retired New Zealander, who shares seven marriages between her and her spouse of twenty-seven years.Suzy suffered from serious childhood sexual ...
"In Dead People I Have Known, the legendary New Zealand musician Shayne Carter tells the story of a life in music, taking us deep behind the scenes and songs of his riotous teenage bands Bored Games and the Doublehappys and his best-known bands Strai...
"Atreasure trove of unique, bizarre and wonderful plants, The Meaning of Trees explores the myriad ways in which New Zealand's extraordinary flora has been used in cuisine, crafts, medicine and culture, providing everything from seafaring canoes and ...
A comprehensive, practical guide to help women who are just starting out in their careers, or who have been faced with managing finances after being in a relationship so that they can make the most of what they earn, and plan a long-term strategy for...
"Are women past caring? Care is essential to social relationships and individual well-being. It is woven into New Zealand's key social institutions, such as the family, and is also embedded in societal expectations around state provision of health and...
"In 2017, Renée Hollis interviewed 120 people over the age of 100, living in every region of New Zealand. Along the way she met opera singers and farmers, a politician and a racing car driver, a nun and a freedom fighter with Gandhi, and even a member...
"The future of New Zealand's rural communities is often in the news. Empty shops, depopulation and lack of jobs are offered as signs that many towns are dying. There is no getting away from the challenges to the rural sector. But what if you consider...
"Outstanding scenic walks of New Zealand is for everyone who enjoys walking. This up-to-date edition contains a selection of quick, enjoyable excursions throughout the country"--Back cover.
"In The unburnt egg, Brian Gill continues his spellbinding stories from more than thirty years as a curator. Some tales are so bizarre they read like fiction: a population of ship rats decimating the entire wildlife of an island and then collapsing; ...
"Welcome to Gordon Collier's Anacapri. Anacapri is Gordon Collier's sequel to his book on his Taihape garden at Titoki Point. Here he has swapped several acres of clay soil on a north facing hill side for a small, flat, town section on sand and pumic...
"Last train to paradise describes the halcyon days of New Zealand rail, some of which the author was fortunate enough to experience personally. The 'name' trains and journeys cover a considerable period of New Zealand's history, from the late 1800s to...
Scott Guy was a good man, a great dad, a salt-of-the-earth farmer who was gunned down at his front gate for no conceivable reason. His death enthralled us, partly because it was so inexplicable, but also because there were no obvious suspects. When p...
There has been much media activity both in the press and on Radio since the Canterbury earthquakes in September 2010 and February 2011.The five-year aftermath of those earthquakes offered the Author a rare opportunity to examine aspects that the media...
"The main focus of Smith's new book is the everyday logistics of care for preschool children in New Zealand and how the present standard of care impacts the lives of children, parents and society as a whole. Smith hopes that by shedding light on this...
"Ray Bradley is no ordinary academic. Born into a deeply religious family, his childhood was consumed with religion, yet his path was far from set. By his late teens he had all but abandoned his Christian faith, diving into philosophy, where he took his...
Auckland Museum houses the world's leading collection of Maori taonga (treasures) and, reflecting Auckland's place as the world's largest Polynesian city, multiple traditional and contemporary arts from throughout the Pacific region - The Museum's na...
The Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1953-58 organised by Sir Vivian Fuchs and Sir Edmund Hilary was one of the most successful exploits ever undertaken in Antarctica, but it has been largely forgotten for years. Seventy years later, this book is the first...
Robert Rattembury was a long serving member of the New Zealand Police for nearly 23 years. This memoir gives insight into his experience.
Corporate abuse. Mobbing. Workplace bullying. Call it what you will, the outcome is still the same - staff who become demoralised, and lose trust and confidence in your organisation; staff who leave. Often ignored or swept under the carpet, workplace...
For many decades Volkswagens have been loved and admired by car enthusiasts from all over the world, and Australia and New Zealand are no exception. Whether it be about the Beetle or the Kombi, there are millions of stories out there waiting to be sh...
"Under Two Flags is the story of The Salvation Army of New Zealand in the First World War and fi lls an important gap in our knowledge of New Zealands response to that war. Written mostly by members of The Salvation Army, it covers the support the Army...
This first volume of Ruth Parks autobiography is an account of her isolated childhood in the rainforests of New Zealand, her convent education which encouraged her love of words and writing, and the bitter years of the Depression. She then entered th...
Born in New Zealand, Ruth Park came to Australia to continue her work as a journalist, newly married to D'Arcy Niland. Determined to earn their living as writers, they submitted story outlines to radio stations, idea for articles to newspapers and ac...
"In the heart of Nazi-occupied Europe, two people meet fleetingly in a chance encounter. One is an underground resistance fighter; the other a prisoner of war. A crumpled note passes between these two strangers and sets them on a course that will change...
In this revealing book, Shane 'Kiwi' Martin details his tough childhood and upbringing in small town New Zealand, his decision to 'cross the ditch' and how he eventually joined one of Australia's notorious bikie gangs, the Rebels. He also tells the story...
The real-life adventures of a young woman pushing the limits, trusting her instincts and living her life off the beaten path Suffering through searing pain and delirious illness in frigid, makeshift conditions, Chloe Phillips-Harris, at the age of 25...
"New Zealand-born Frances Hodgkins (1869–1947) arrived in London in 1901 and, by the 1920s, had become a leading British modernist, exhibiting frequently with avant-garde artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. Published to c...
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