The Bookmen’s Dominion: Cultural Life in New Zealand 1920-1950 Chris Hilliard Auckland University Press, $34.99, ISBN 1869403622 Pat Lawlor’s “bookmen” or “frothblowers” were middle-aged men identifiable and, in a way, isolated not by such things as flamboyant attire, but by…
Going Up, Going Down: The Rise and Fall of the Department Store Helen B Laurenson Auckland University Press, $34.99, ISBN 186940341X Before TV and 24-hour on-tap entertainment, department stores provided escapism on a grand scale. Looking back to my childhood,…
After the Fireworks: A Life of David Ballantyne Bryan Reid Auckland University Press, $44.99, ISBN 1869403274 David Ballantyne’s life in many ways represents the Kiwi dream. Boy from cash-strapped, part-Maori, provincial family, with minimal schooling, through talent and hard work…
Writers In Residence: A Journey with Pioneer New Zealand Writers Jenny Robin Jones Auckland University Press, $44.99, ISBN 1869403029 As Edward Gibbon Wakefield wrote in 1829: Literary men, men of science, philosophers, do not emigrate to new colonies where their…
In a Strange Garden: the life and times of Truby King Lloyd Chapman Penguin, $34.95, ISBN 0143018795 A Voice for Mothers: The Plunket Society and Infant Welfare, 1907-2000 Linda Bryder Auckland University Press, $49.99, ISBN 1869402901 Sir Truby King died…
In Endless Fear: a true story Colin Crump Penguin, $34.99, ISBN 014301823X The Crump legend again. This time, a bit of a yarn from Barry’s younger brother Colin, about growing up with the father from hell. Wally Crump should never…
A Life in Loose Strides: the story of Barry Crump Colin Hogg Hodder Moa Beckett, $34.95, ISBN 1869588223 For 40 years his name has been identified with the quintessential Kiwi male: resilient, adventurous, self-sufficient, laconic, handy with rifle and…
Salute to Service: A History of the Royal New Zealand Corps of Transport and its Predecessors, 1860-1996 Julia Millen Victoria University Press, $49.95 ISBN 0 86473 324 0 Jayforce: New Zealand and the Military Occupation of Japan, 1945-48 Laurie Brocklebank…