Te wheke means octopus in te reo Maori. For many cultures the Pacific Ocean, this resourceful, adventurous creature is a symbol of early voyages from the Polynesian homelands of Hawaiki. In Aotearoa New Zealand, conventional art history tells the stories of art that ties us to Britain and Europe. This book looks in a different direction - from the Pacific outwards. Te Wheke features a selection of excellent examples of art from Aotearoa and the Pacific, each with a short text opening up conversations about the journeys, tensions and connections that shape Oceania's past, present and future.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 232

Publication Date: 24-04-2020

The Furthest Garrison focuses on Imperial Forces in New Zealand, with particular reference to Auckland. Existing work has focused solely on the conduct of the New Zealand (Maori) Wars between 1846 and 1866. While this in itself is of undoubted significance, there is an additional unexplored aspect of the conflict in terms of its impact upon the garrison and, in turn, its impact upon the civilian population. Auckland was the hub of the British military presence in New Zealand and the barracks played an integral part in local colonial society from sports such as cricket and horse racing to entertainment, and to the provisioning of regimental supplies. Civil-military relations also encompassed the provision of aid to the civil power, while the discipline and health of the garrison also had the capacity to impact upon civilians. The issue of provisioning in particular has not been studied in detail in the case of any other imperial garrison at this period. Many soldiers stationed in New Zealand after their service remained as settlers, working on farms and in other trades, helping to shape colonial society. This book aims to address the neglected area of the social interaction between the British army and the civilian populace within the British Empire by reference to New Zealand between 1840 and 1870. Publications within this area remain limited with many being unpublished. Some more general works exists for earlier periods the American War of Independence as well as the study of the garrisons in the West Indies between 1792 and 1825. India has been relatively neglected. Published studies of the white dominions in this area of study are also relatively limited, the Australian experience has been restricted to popular works. While Canada and South Africa have been served with scholarly studies on Garrison life within these colonies. The book will appeal to the academic historian whether military or colonial, and to the general reader who has an interest in British history as well as civil-military relations, or who wishes to better understand how the Army operated outside of Great Britain. It will add materially to the historiography of colonial New Zealand and to the increasing interest in the interaction of garrisons with civilian populations.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 176

Dimensions: 180 x 248 mm

Publication Date: 01-12-2019

In the early 20th century, 130 young Anglo-Indians were sent to New Zealand in an organised immigration scheme from Kalimpong, in the Darjeeling district of India. They were the mixed-race children of British tea planters and local women, and were placed as workers with New Zealand families from the Far North to Southland. Their settlement in New Zealand was the initiative of a Scottish Presbyterian missionary, the Rev Dr John Anderson Graham, who aimed to ‘rescue’ and provide a home and an education for children whose opportunities would have been limited in the country of their birth. Jane McCabe is the granddaughter of Lorna Peters, who arrived with a group from Kalimpong in 1921. Jane is one of many hundreds of descendants now spread throughout New Zealand. Most grew up with little or no knowledge of their parent’s Indian heritage. The story of interracial relationships, institutionalisation – and the sense of abandonment that often resulted – was rarely spoken of. But since the 1980s increasing numbers have been researching their hidden histories. In the process, extraordinary personal stories and many fabulous photographs have come to light. Jane McCabe here tells this compelling and little-known New Zealand story, in pictures.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 146

Dimensions: 203 x 230 mm

For two periods in the early 1960s young science technician Don Webster wintered over in Antarctica, helping build extensions to the New Zealand station at Scott Base. It was barely two years after Sir Edmond Hillary’s support of the 1957-58 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Don describes in detail the design and construction of the buildings of the base, providing an invaluable historical record of both the physical base itself and also of daily life there in the summers and winters of those early years. Storms, severe cold and aircraft accidents are described in vivid detail. The book has 370 photographs many never before published.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 268

Dimensions: 210 x 250 mm

Publication Date: 31-12-2019

Ian Austin is being compared to Ian Rankin with his Dan Calder trilogy of crime novels. Frozen Summer completes this thrilling trilogy! The Dan Calder series is a trilogy of crime novels featuring the uniquely talented but also uniquely flawed ex-detective. His struggles with depression and a cupboard bursting with skeletons vie for attention as he reluctantly travels from England to the other side of the world and back again, attempting to prevent or solve some of the darkest crimes imaginable and trying to maintain his loose grip on sanity all at the same time. Causing trouble or falling headlong into it is more than a habit for Dan Calder and it’s only the depth which ever seems to vary. Frozen Summer is the nickname Dan Calder’s girlfriend Tara gives to a cold case, the coldest one of all. Who else but Calder would contemplate investigating the unsolved killing where he’s the only suspect? The time’s come to revisit the scene of his blackest experience in order to try and move on once and for all. At stake are the relationships with Tara, their new son Bradley and possibly his very liberty. One way or another it ends here. Right here, right now.

Bind: paperback

Publication Date: 02-12-2019

The 2019 re-opening of the Christchurch Town Hall is celebrated in this richly illustrated volume. Threatened with demolition following earthquake damage in 2011, the building has been renewed through seismic strengthening, restoration and repair. With contributions from those who shaped its original design, along with accounts of the renewal project and the story of the hall’s Rieger organ, this book explains why the Christchurch Town Hall is of both national and international significance. It will appeal to a diverse range of readers, from architects and acousticians, to musicians and those who seek a better understanding of what makes it such an outstanding performance venue, as well as to citizens who take pride in their town hall. Opened in 1972, the Christchurch Town Hall was acclaimed for its architectural excellence and established the national reputation of its designers, Warren & Mahoney. Harold Marshall’s acoustic design brought international recognition and helped to transform the way concert halls were designed around the world. Serving as the city’s leading concert venue for almost forty years, the Christchurch Town Hall has been acclaimed by performers as diverse as Leonard Bernstein, Kiri Te Kanawa and Carlos Santana. Yet it was always more than just a performance venue, becoming the focus for many of the city’s civic, social, cultural and educational rituals. In 2019 the renewed town hall became, once more, Christchurch’s ‘public living room’.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 248

Dimensions: 220 x 250 mm

Publication Date: 05-12-2019

What if dreams were more real than waking life? Life is already complicated enough for Awa Bryant; when she starts having weird dreams – waking dreams – and strange coincidences start appearing in her real life. She meets dreamcharmer, Veila, a quirky glowing creature who helps to guide Awa through the mysterious Dreamrealm. At first the Dreamrealm is a glorious escape from Awa's daily struggles but something is not right... Soon Awa discovers she has a bigger quest, and everything she cares about is at stake. Will she be brave enough to face her fears and save her friends?

Bind: paperback

Pages: 150

Dimensions: 127 x 203 mm

Publication Date: 01-11-2019

From the original writings of The Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, Perrault and other master storytellers, this re­envisioned collection of 18 of our favourite fairy tales challenges outdated gender stereotypes and creates diverse new tales for every girl and boy - regardless of gender, skin colour or sexual orientation. In Diamonds and Toads, a brave princess fights her way through a forest of thorns to place a kiss on the sleeping Briar Rose. The Frog Prince's curse is ultimately undone by another prince who learns not to judge by outward appearances. And a young woman proves she is more than capable of using her wits to save her betrothed as the gender roles are reversed in Jorinda and Joringel. Richly illustrated by some of New Zealand's best loved illustrators and artists, this treasury is sure to become a favourite for a new generation of readers.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 204

Dimensions: 185 x 250 mm

Publication Date: 01-10-2019

Passages is a personal, yet universal story of a life in harmony with nature. When Linda, her husband David, and their two small boys, Sam and William, bought a yacht called Hornpipe and set sail for tropical waters, they cast off from all security. So began a nomadic adventure when they had to depend on their own resources, navigating by the sun and stars. This beautifully illustrated book presents a thrillingly honest, yet poetic reflection on the challenges of fulfilling a dream, as seen from a mother's perspective. Those ocean passages were a non stop roller coaster ride: "There were times when they plunged into the deepest trough of the wave and there were times when they rode, in exhilaration, the highest crest". Linda's literal and metaphorical passages braid together both past and present to reveal how her family's extraordinary voyages inspired their future accomplishments. "This story is for all explorers. The passages we weave through our lives find their truth in those we touch along the way: - Linda Trubridge

Bind: paperback

Pages: 441

Dimensions: 155 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 02-11-2019

Michael Willis was ten years old, already keeping rabbits, guinea pigs, frogs, possums and birds in his parents’ garden and dreaming of running a zoo of his own. Then came a life-changing present: a copy of naturalist Gerald Durrell’s The Bafut Beagles. Suddenly the idea of working with animals became more than just a fantasy. A lot of hard work and ingenuity later, the dream came true in 1974, when Michael opened Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, on the outskirts of Christchurch. An immensely popular and prize-winning tourist attraction, Willowbank is home to a rich collection of exotic and native animals, from kiwi and kea to otters, camels and monkeys. But that has been only part of the story. Over the years Michael has been increasingly driven to save and conserve rare livestock breeds, many of them far more endangered than some of their familiar native counterparts. He has travelled New Zealand, and the world, in his quest to save these often forgotten animals from extinction. Whether it is rediscovering the tasselled and beguiling kune kune pig, saving the goats of remote Arapawa Island, capturing wild pigs on the forbidding Auckland Islands, bringing back to life the lost wild cattle of Enderby Island or travelling to the Galápagos in search of threatened wild donkeys, his has been a life full of adventure, and full of the animals he loves. And the search continues. Just as he did in his delightful, best-selling first book, Some of My Best Friends are Animals, Michael Willis recounts his sometimes perilous and always riveting experiences with warmth, passion and infectiously laconic humour. Rescue will make you laugh and gasp, and think. For, as he reminds us, in an uncertain world, the saving of these animals could be the saving of us all.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 304

Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 31-10-2019