The Origins of China’s Awareness of New Zealand, 1674-1911 William Tai Yuen New Zealand Asia Institute, The University of Auckland, $25.00, ISBN 0473104245 Unreal City: A Chinese Poet in Auckland Yang Lian (ed Jacob Edmond and Hilary Chung) Auckland University…
John Wright’s Indian Summers John Wright with Sharda Ugra and Paul Thomas Hodder Moa Beckett, $49.99, ISBN 9781869710620 In a sport largely populated by talented solipsists, former New Zealand captain John Wright has always stood out within cricket for his…
Shrewd Sanctity: The Story of Kathleen Hall, 1896-1970: Missionary Nurse in China Rae McGregor Polygraphia, $30.00, ISBN 1877332321 In an age of “icons” and “celebrities”, true heroes are hard to find. Kathleen Hall, however, was the real deal. This extraordinary…
John Tomb’s Head Stephanie Johnson Vintage, $28.00, ISBN 1869418263 You have to admire The Rev Mr Taylor, whoever he might have been, for chronicling, in the manner of Nigella Lawson discussing the preparation of a steak and kidney pudding, the…
A Life of J C Beaglehole: New Zealand Scholar Tim Beaglehole Victoria University Press, $69.95, ISBN 0864735227 John Cawte Beaglehole remains New Zealand’s best-known and most highly regarded historian internationally. None of the numerous Cook biographies published since his magisterial…
Revolution: The 1913 Great Strike in New Zealand Melanie Nolan (ed) Canterbury University Press in association with the Trade Union History Project, $34.95, ISBN 1877257400 The track record of revolutions is dismal. Failure, betrayal and despair almost assuredly await you.…
Disputed Histories: Imagining New Zealand’s Pasts Tony Ballantyne and Brian Moloughney (ed) Otago University Press, $49.95, ISBN 1877276161 This immensely stimulating volume began life as a tribute to Erik Olssen on the occasion of his retirement from Otago University. The…
Books for Christmas
Some of our 2006 reviewers divulge what books they’d most like to find under the tree these holidays. Elizabeth Smither wants Dead Europe by Christos Tsiolkas, this year’s Melbourne Age novel of the year, in which a gay Australian photographer travels…
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