Blog Archives

The triumph of reinvention, Mary Varnham

Wellington – The First Years of European Settlement 1840-1850 Gavin McLean Penguin Books, $29.95, ISBN 0140288635 Wellington’s Heritage – plants, gardens, and landscape Winsome Shepherd Te Papa Press, $49.95, ISBN 0909010730 Kirkcaldie & Stains – A Wellington Story Julia Millen

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in History, Memoir, Natural History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

“Bastards I have sailed with” Gavin McLean

Where Giants Dwell: a Sailor’s Tale Gerry Evans David Ling, $34.95, ISBN 0 908990 60 X In just three decades, first the container/bulk cargo handling revolution and then the Employment Contracts Act have virtually gutted the once mighty maritime unions.

See more ›

Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Colonial views, Gavin McLean

Massacre Bay: A 19th Century Saga of Colonial Life Ken Gunn, The Book Guild, $39.95 Ken Gunn’s handsomely produced hardback historical novel, Massacre Bay, takes us back to the early days of Pakeha settlement in Nelson province. It tells the

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Four-colour collations, Gavin McLean

Michael Fowler’s University of Auckland Michael Fowler, Mallinson Rendel, $49.95 Nelson Observed; Portraits of a New Zealand Province Christopher B Vine, The Nelson Institute, price not indicated The all-colour book of regional paintings and sketches used to be a mainstay

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , ,
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review

Imported and adapted, Gavin McLean

The Chapman Legal Family Peter Spiller, Victoria University Press, $39.95 Waikato law professor Peter Spiller’s book examines the legal careers of Henry Samuel Chapman and his two sons, Frederick, the first New Zealand-born Supreme Court judge, and Martin, founder of

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Biography, History, Non-fiction, Review

Effective writing, Gavin McLean

Check it Out: a Guide to Effective Writing Margaret McLaren, Longman Paul, Auckland, 1991, $12.95 In many ways, this slim paperback is a more useful book than the latest truncated New Zealand Style Book, since its advice on matters such

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Literature, Non-fiction, Review

Research guide, Gavin McLean

A Guide to Art Galleries and Museums In New Zealand Keith W Thomson, Reed Books, Auckland, 1991, $14.95 This snappy little paperback wins out over Thomson’s earlier book in that it is cheap and portable enough to be bought and

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Art, Non-fiction, Review

Researching history, Gavin McLean

Oral History in New Zealand Vol 4 Louise Buckingham and Brigid Pike (eds), National Oral History Association of New Zealand, Wellington, 1992, by subscription Oral history continues to gather strength and respectability. Fittingly, in view of the technique’s special value in

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Reminiscences, Gavin McLean

Dreamscape 1 John Summers, Pisces Print, Christchurch, 1991, $45 Second-hand booksellers are a breed apart, either mute chainsmoking social misfits concerned only with turning dog-eared Mills and Boons into cash, or erudite but loquacious to the point of distraction oil

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review

Politics and Society, Gavin McLean

The 1990 Election: Perspectives on Political Change in New Zealand E M McLeay (ed), Department of Politics, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, 1991 The 1990 election was the dullest in recent decades, with a battered, cynical electorate sensing the inevitability

See more ›

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Media, Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review
Search the archive
Search by category