The Sixth Man: The Extraordinary Life of Paddy Costello James McNeish Vintage, $34.99, ISBN 9781869418915 James McNeish’s masterly life of Paddy Costello tells how, in the summer of 1953, this Paris-based New Zealand diplomat escorted National PM Sid Holland around…
Colin McCahon: The Titirangi Years, 1953-1959 Peter Simpson Auckland University Press, $49.95, ISBN 9781869403898 A half-century ago, the literature of New Zealand art fitted on a single shelf, or – with a full collection of the periodical Art in New…
The New Zealand Family From 1840: A Demographic History Ian Pool, Arunachalam Dharmalingam and Janet Sceats (eds) Auckland University Press, $50.00, ISBN 9781869403577 A demographic history of the New Zealand family? Well, that’ll be a short, sad story. Everyone knows…
Maori Peoples of New Zealand: Nga Iwi O Aotearoa Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand David Bateman, $49.99, ISBN 9781869536220 National encyclopedias bear some resemblance to national exhibitions in the way they sum up and present knowledge relevant to…
Women with a Mission: Rediscovering Missionary Wives in Early New Zealand Cathy Ross Penguin Books, $39.95, ISBN 0143020501 Be careful what you leave behind you. That unflattering photo could well be the one chosen for your obituary (should you be…
Nga Moteatea: The Songs, Part 4: Collected by Apirana Ngata, translated by Hirini Moko Mead Jenifer Curnow and Jane McRae (eds) Auckland University Press, $22.50, ISBN 9781869403867 This is the final instalment in the series of Nga Moteatea: The Songs,…
Logan Campbell’s Auckland: Tales from the Early Years R C J Stone Auckland University Press, $45.00, ISBN 9781869403935 Wellington: Biography of a City Redmer Yska Reed, $44.99, ISBN 0790011077 Auckland illuminated through stories of the past; Wellington reconstructed through careful…