The People of Many Peaks, 1769-1869 Claudia Orange (ed), Bridget Williams Books and Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 1991, $35.00 This book contains the biographies of 161 notable Maori leaders between 1769 and 1869 who appear in the first volume…
The Hanging Sky Shirley Corlett, Mallinson Rendel, Wellington, 1990, $55 (Paper $39.95) Beginning when ‘Man’ (this is no tale of humankind) first stepped upon the land ‘that had been part of Gondwanaland’ and ending with the present, The Hanging Sky is an epic…
The Ninth Floor – Inside the Prime Minister’s Office Harvey McQueen Penguin Books, Auckland, 1991, $24.95 The first few chapters of The Ninth Floor amazed me. I’m used to books about politics that hedge their bets. If they say something good about someone…
Wulfsyarn: A mosaic Phillip Mann, Gollancz, London, 1990, $45.95 Phillip Mann is contemporary New Zealand science fiction. The Chairperson of the Department of Theatre and Film at Victoria University, he has published five science fiction novels in less than ten years. The…
The Making of Wellington 1800-1914 David Hamer and Roberta Nicholls (eds) Victoria University Press, Wellington, 1990, $39.95 Colonial Capital, Wellington 1865-1910 Terence Hodgson Random Century, Auckland, 1990, $34.95 A study of the evolution of a city provides an excellent opportunity…
Adoption, Guide to Law and Practice Robert Ludbrook Government Printer, Wellington, 1990, $16.95 Human Rights Robert Ludbrook Government Printer, Wellington. 1990, $12.95 Your Small Business John Pettigrew Government Printer, Wellington, 1990, $12.95 Adoption has been likened to a legal conjuring…
The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature Terry Sturm (ed), Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1991, $69.95 To take up a 750-page book about hundreds of other books one has read only a fraction of, and to persist to the end…
Twelve Plus – girls in school George Bryant and Noni Johnson, Dunmore Press, Palmerston North, 1990, $27.95 At School I’ve Got a Chance Alison Jones (ed) Dunmore Press, Palmerston North, 1990, $27.95 In New Zealand secondary schools there is an understood…