On a Saturday Night is a warm and colourful celebration of the strength and spirit of small towns all around New Zealand. From Whakapara in the north to Mossburn in the South, community halls have been the focal point of small towns for as long as the towns have been on the map. These halls have hosted school classrooms, general elections, stag parties, birthday parties, film screenings, Rabbiters’ Balls, flag euchre evenings, farewells and welcome-home parties for servicemen from both world wars, memorial events for those who did not return, farm auctions, clearing sales, weddings, Christmas parties, Civil Defence teams, mayoral celebrations, church services … Some halls have been demolished and rebuilt over the decades, others have been lovingly restored several times and are still going strong. Some halls have been transported on the backs of trucks to new locations as towns have grown and changed. Fires and floods have taken their toll in more than a few cases. Michele Frey and Sara Newman visited these halls with photographers John Maillard (North Island) and John O’Malley (South Island) to talk to the locals and try to capture the essence of what each hall has meant – and means – to its community. In these stories and pictures they have recorded an aspect of New Zealand’s unique culture that seems to be passing into history.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 260

Publication Date: 01-11-2012

Over six to seven hundred years, Maori burned about one third of New Zealand’s ground cover. In the following 70 years, and at a devastating rate, European settlers burned about another third as they cleared and ‘improved’ the land. All too frequently, burn-offs became uncontrollable conflagrations that swept through thousands of hectares, destroying cattle, fences, homes and livelihoods, and burning mills and much-needed timber. Townsfolk, blanketed in dense, acrid smoke needed lights at midday; ships, unable to pick up landmarks, sat marooned in harbour – yet the burning, as in other frontier societies, remained unabated and largely unquestioned. It is against that background that Helen Beaglehole sets the fascinating and previously unexplored history of how settlers’ random and careless burning led, in 1921, to legislation that still underpins New Zealand’s official policy on wildfire. She explores the huge public education campaign that sought to convince all sectors of the public that mindless burning had to be restrained, and traces how increasingly sophisticated fire-fighting technologies, coupled with developing knowledge of weather and fire behaviour, were used to prevent, contain and extinguish fire. Finally she looks at the early Forest Service employees who in effect became the nation’s first rural firefighters, their skills honed in the vast controlled burns of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, and describes the regime established after the Service’s demise and the issues faced today. As with Helen Beaglehole’s two books on New Zealand’s lighthouses and lighthouse keeping, Fire in the Hills is grounded in detailed and extensive research. Information from historical records is incorporated with material from interviews with past and present rural firefighters and administrators, bringing vividly to light the times, the people and the problems they faced. Some 200 photographs further broaden our historical understanding.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 324

Publication Date: 01-07-2012

Peter Morath is a notable New Zealand scenic photographer. He has an eye for colour and vibrancy and his work has been in demand for several decades.
The breathtaking scenery of the South Island has been captured by Peter's lens and each photograph has been captioned. In addition, each area has a small history and things-to-see text to accompany the stunning photographs.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 152

Dimensions: 286 x 245 mm

Publication Date: 30-08-2012

Praised by The Sunday Times as “the Oscars for the Interior Design World,” this compendium presents the world’s best interior designers and their stunning work. The Andrew Martin Interior Design Review features almost a hundred designers, and with more than 1,000 images it takes you to amazing places and styles worldwide.

Exquisite interiors found in private homes, hotels, restaurants, and super yachts are presented in this volume with designs that vary from classic to extravagant, providing an insight into clean and modern Scandinavian style, classic American style, as well as Asian style.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 496

Dimensions: 235 x 317 mm

Publication Date: 23-09-2012

Acclaimed worldwide for his eclectic and highly personal interiors that mix style and comfort with adventure and art, Lars Bolander showcases a stunning selection of his compelling interiors, sharing his unique inspirations and giving us privileged glimpses into how his intriguing creative process evolves. Each room truly does tell a fascinating story.

With an international sense of sophistication, his sense of appropriateness and scale are also distinctively Swedish. Inspired by sources such as his extensive travels and an in-depth knowledge of artistic disciplines as diverse as glassblowing, sculpture, and literature, the results are intelligently curated but refreshingly laid-back.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 192

Dimensions: 280 x 360 mm

Publication Date: 23-09-2012

‘People never grow up, they just learn how to act in public.' - Bryan White

TIMELY ADVICE FOR A MILESTONE BIRTHDAY
So what if you’re now a proper ‘grown-up’; after all, with age comes new opportunities, new adventures and a massive reduction in your car insurance bill – and you’re still nowhere near 30!

This book is packed with celebratory quotations to help you shrug your shoulders, blow out the candles and Keep Calm.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 160

Dimensions: 95 x 130 mm

Publication Date: 05-09-2012

Better a witty fool than a foolish wit. ’Twelfth Night Act 1, scene 5’ Whether you are in need of inspiration, advice, or an insult clever enough to floor your foes, this little book is sure to hold the answer. This collection brings together the finest witticisms, musings and words of wisdom from Britain’s greatest wordsmith.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 160

Dimensions: 79 x 102 mm

Publication Date: 05-09-2012

It is amazing that in these times of passion for the food from every corner of the globe, the cooking of Portugal remains unexplored by so many, especially given its vibrant flavours and simple domestic style. In this authoritative and fascinating book, Edite Vieira traces the rich legacy of her country's culinary excellence from medieval through to modern times lacing it with history and anecdote and a collection of authentically delicious recipes. From simple and wholesome peasant fare to elaborate celebratory meals, ingredients include salt cod (bacalhau) in all its myriad variations, and cumin and oranges which are both remnants of the voyaging past, with green coriander the main flavouring herb; essentially the food is the food of a country which grows grapes, peppers, melons, quinces and apples, and few other countries have such a repertoire of pork dishes. Fresh pork is much in evidence as well as ham (presunto), pork and red pepper sausages (chouricos) and black pudding (morcela), all foods are very much to contemporary taste.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 256

Dimensions: 189 x 246 mm

Publication Date: 21-09-2012

Blenheims In Action From The Phoney War Through The Battle Of Britain
In 1940, the defense of Great Britain rested with a handful of volunteer aircrew, Churchill's 'few'. Overshadowed in later folklore by the more famous Spitfire and Hurricane pilots, there were other pilots, observers and air gunners - just as courageous - flying the Bristol Blenheim MKIV-F. The future of the country and arguably that of the free world depended also on their skill, morale and sacrifice.Remarkably little has been chronicled of these men and their aircraft - the 'Trade Protection' squadrons formed by Hugh Dowding - allotted to 11 Group in October 1939. The aircraft's range and endurance made it suitable for defense of coastal shipping against attack on the southern and eastern shores of Britain, and for operations further afield. Indeed during bitter fighting casualties among Numbers 235, 236, 248 and 254 Squadron Blenheims were high on operations over Norway, Holland, France, Dunkirk and then the Battle of Britain where the Blenheims were completely outclassed by Messerschmitt 109 and 110 fighters and fell easy victims, scythed from the sky.
But the record of the aircraft and their crew was an immensely proud one. Drawing on contemporary diaries, periodicals, letters, logbooks, memoirs and interviews with survivors, lauded historian Andy Bird reassesses the vital role they played and repositions it in history. In doing so, he justifiably embraces the heroes we have left behind.

Pages: 224

Publication Date: 15-09-2012

As one of the most successful German fighter pilots of World War I, Hauptmann Rudolf Berthold was victorious on fortyfour aerial combats. He was also shot down and forced to land after six fights and survived crash landings in every case.
Early in World War I, when only fighter pilots were awarded the Kingdom of Prussia's (and de facto, Imperial Germany's) highest bravery decoration, the Pour le Merite, Rudolf Berthold became the tenth recipient of the honour. Of that early cohort of air heroes, only Berthold and one other pilot survived the war. This book tells his remarkable story.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 224

Dimensions: 170 x 246 mm

Publication Date: 21-09-2012