Tragedy not dystopia Eleanor Toland’s review of Phillip Mann’s The Disestablishment of Paradise (NZB, Winter 2013) is based on a set of misconceptions. Toland yearns for New Zealand settings, so she must have enjoyed Mann’s Pioneers; but hers is a…
Nga Tau ki Muri/Our Future Ans Westra Suite Publishing, $40.00, ISBN 9780473234881 This is a book of photographs, deliberately uncaptioned and accompanied by very few words. A brief introduction by Ans Westra sets out her political intent. Her desire is…
Patched: The History of Gangs in New Zealand Jarrod Gilbert Auckland University Press, $50.00, ISBN 9781869407292 This is a very satisfying book, which is not always the case when a PhD turns into a paperback. It is well-organised, well-written and…
Outsiders: Stories from the Fringe of New Zealand Society Gerard Hindmarsh Craig Potton Publishing, $35.00, ISBN 9781877517723 Christchurch Crimes 1850-75: Scandal and Skulduggery in Port and Town Geoffrey W Rice Canterbury University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781927145395 Google maps don’t have…
Webs of Empire: Locating New Zealand’s Colonial Past Tony Ballantyne Bridget Williams Books, $50.00, ISBN 9781927131435 Books on Britain’s colonisation of New Zealand range from the often jingoistic efforts of some writers in the 19th century, through to the heavily…
The Luminaries Eleanor Catton Victoria University Press, $35.00, ISBN 9780864738950 This is an extraordinary work. It is over 800 pages long, with a cast of characters to match and an intricately complex plot – or web of plots – revealed…
Disraeli’s Daughter Catherine Styles Steele Roberts, $30.00, ISBN 9781877577963 Catherine Styles’s grandmother, Kate, was the illegitimate daughter of Benjamin Disraeli. Under his instructions, she was married off and banished to the colonies in order to avoid any stain on his…
The Place of Stones Martin Edmond The Holloway Press, $275.00, ISBN 9780986461866 Jumping Ship and Other Essays Glenn Colquhoun Steele Roberts, $25.00, ISBN 9781877577765 When Martin Edmond picks up a piece of schist from Alaska – in which are embedded…