Showing 1–12 of 19 results
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Waitangi: A Living Treaty
Artist/Author: Wright, Matthew$52.00 Add to cartAcclaimed historian Matthew Wright explores the evolution of New Zealand’s most historically significant document, the Treaty of Waitangi, from its origins to its place in the present day.
From the early cultural collisions between Maori and Pakeha that led to this landmark agreement, to the many reinterpretations that have followed, Waitangi: A Living Treaty brings the story and concepts of the Treaty to life in this revealing and thought-provoking read.
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A Short History of New Zealand
Artist/Author: McLauchlan, Gordon$42.00 Add to cartA new edition of the bestselling Short History on New Zealand, updated to include the Helen Clark years, the rise of John Key, the Christchurch earthquakes and the 2011 Rugby World Cup! A lively and accessible history written by one of New Zealand’a most well-known commentators on matters past and present. Succinct and well referenced, this book is the most accessible introduction to New Zealand history currently in print. Originally published in 2004, this updated and redesigned new edition features new photographs, and now includes a selected further reading list.
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Aotea Great Barrier: Land and People
Artist/Author: Morton, Chris, Peter Malcouronne$82.00 Add to cartIf New Zealand has everything imaginable within a day’s drive, then Great Barrier Island has pretty much everything within an hour. Rugged basalt bays on the west side, a mountainous interior and white-sand beaches on the east coast, serene one moment, savage the next – it’s not for nothing the island is called Great Barrier.
The book consists of five chapters – sea, beach, land, bush and the mountains. Each of these landscapes is explored through the eyes of 12 different locals, who describe a favourite part of the island and explain why it has special meaning for them. In the process, they capture the essence of a community that is unlike any other. Perhaps more than anywhere else in New Zealand, there is a determination to retain what it is that makes the Barrier special, and discovering, defining what that is, is the theme of this book.
Created around Chris Morton’s spectacular and evocative photographs, and a thoughtful and authentic text from Peter Malcouronne, this is a unique and special book, a tribute to this ruggedly beautiful island and the community that love it.
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Ghosts of Gondwana: The History of Life in New Zealand (Revised Edition)
Artist/Author: Gibbs, George$76.00 Add to cartHave you ever wondered why New Zealand’s plants and animals are so different from those in other countries? Why kakapo is the only parrot in the world that cannot fly, or why the kiwi lives there and nowhere else? New Zealand is an extraordinary place, unique on earth, and the remarkable story of how and why life evolved there is the subject of Ghosts of Gondwana. The challenge of explaining New Zealand’s natural origins is picked up in this fully revised edition of the popular award-winning book. It presents the latest scientific research in highly readable form, highlighting studies that reveal the deep historical background of the landscapes, fauna and flora – from ancient frogs and moa to delicate insects and the magnificent southern beech forests. It introduces the latest discoveries and resolves past issues like the ‘Oligocene drowning’ hypothesis.
Exciting fossil discoveries are revealed and new scientific technologies and approaches to the discipline of historical biogeography are discussed – approaches that range from undersea geology to molecular clocks – and it inevitably draws attention to the debates and conflicts that distinguish different schools of opinion in this holistic branch of theoretical science. This revision incorporates the results of 10 years of intensive scientific research and includes four entirely new chapters to: focus on ‘yesterday’s maps’ to draw attention to the ephemeral islands in New Zealand’s history that have possibly acted as stepping stones for terrestrial animals and plants but today have sunk into the sea; incorporate the author’s own special interest in an ancient group of ‘jaw-moths’, unknown and unnoticed by most people but with a strong message that New Zealand is part of the world when it comes to explaining where the fauna have come from; present recent research findings on our huge flightless birds, the ratites; and include New Zealand’s terrestrial molluscs into the story.
Ghosts of Gondwana identifies New Zealand as one of the most challenging places on earth to explain, but it’s readable, engaging style and revised illustrations render this often-controversial discipline of science into a format that is accessible to any reader with an interest in natural history and the unique environment of New Zealand.
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Great Walks of New Zealand
Artist/Author: Potton, Craig with Shaun Barnett$62.00 Add to cartGreat Walks of New Zealand is a tribute to New Zealand’s eight finest walking tracks, by renowned wilderness photographer Craig Potton. Based on the best-selling Classic Walks of New Zealand, this book has been updated and revised to focus on New Zealand’s Great Walks, a reflection of the international prominence these tracks now rightly enjoy.
Tracks included are Stewart Island’s Rakiura Track, the Kepler Track, the Milford Track, the Routeburn Track, the Heaphy Track, the Abel Tasman Coast Track, the Tongariro Northern Circuit Great Walk, and the Lake Waikaremona Track in Te Urewera.
With 3D overview maps from Geographx and up-to-date track information, Great Walks of New Zealand combines words and photographs to rekindle memories of past trips, and to inspire readers to new experiences on these magnificent tracks.
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Pathway of the Birds: The Voyaging Achievements of Māori and Their Polynesian Ancestors
Artist/Author: Crowe, Andrew$62.00 Add to cartThis book tells of one of the most expansive and rapid phases of human migration in prehistory, a period during which Polynesians reached and settled nearly every archipelago scattered across some 28 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean, an area now known as East Polynesia.
Through an engaging narrative and over 400 maps, diagrams, photographs, and illustrations, Crowe conveys some of the skills, innovation, resourcefulness, and courage of the people that drove this extraordinary feat of maritime expansion.
In this masterful work, Andrew Crowe integrates a diversity of research and viewpoints in a format that is both accessible to the lay reader and required reading for any serious scholar of this fascinating region.
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Te Taiao: Maori and the Natural World
Artist/Author: Bateman, David$63.00 Add to cartIn traditional Maori knowledge, the weather, birds, fish and trees, sun and moon are related to each other, and to the people of the land, the tangata whenua. It is truly an interconnected world – a vast family of which humans are children of the earth and sky, and cousins to all living things. In this richly illustrated book, Maori scholars and writers share the traditional knowledge passed down the generations by word of mouth. It provides a unique window on the relationship of the people of New Zealand with their environment, as well as the profound knowledge and necessary skills they needed to survive there. How did Maori describe and predict the weather, use the moon as a guide for successful fishing and planting, and celebrate Matariki, the Maori New Year? How did they describe and move about their environment, and survive. Discover forest lore and traditional uses of forest plants, how Maori hunted moa, harvested birds, fish and shellfish, and cultivated plants they bought with them from Polynesia.
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An Extraordinary Land: Discoveries and Mysteries from Wild New Zealand
Artist/Author: Hayden, Peter (Author), Rod Morris (Photography)$45.00 Add to cartNew Zealand is an extraordinary land. It has been called ‘the closest thing to life on another planet’ and ‘a planetary lifeboat’. The main reason behind this land’s uniqueness is that the islands have remained an isolated outpost for life in the midst of the ocean. this isolation has been a huge advantage. It has turned New Zealand into a wild laboratory where evolution could conduct experiments that led to weird and wonderful outcomes. And this uniqueness has also made New Zealand a magnet for scientists from around the world; yet many locals have no idea what’s so special about their environment. These stories will present new Zealand’s wildlife as never before. It will solve some mysteries and explode some myths with the help of those at the front line of science and conservation.
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Austral Ark: The State of Wildlife in Australia and New Zealand
Artist/Author: Stow, Adam(Editor), Norman MacLean (Editor), Gregory I Holwell (Editor)$75.00 Add to cartAustralia and New Zealand are home to a remarkable and unique assemblage of flora and fauna. Sadly though, by virtue of their long isolation, and a naïve and vulnerable biota, both countries have suffered substantial losses to biodiversity since European contact. Bringing together the contributions of leading conservation biologists, Austral Ark presents the special features and historical context of Austral biota, and explains what is being conserved and why. The threatening processes occurring worldwide are discussed, along with the unique conservation problems faced at regional level. At the same time, the book highlights many examples of conservation success resulting from the innovative solutions that have been developed to safeguard native species and habitats in both New Zealand and Australia. Austral Ark fills an important gap regarding wildlife gains and declines, and how best to take conservation forward to keep this extraordinary area of the world thriving.
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Wild Sea: A History of the Southern Ocean
Artist/Author: McCann, Joy$33.00 Add to cartUnimpeded by any landmass, the mysterious Southern Ocean flows completely around Earth from west to east between the seasonally shifting icy continent of Antarctica and the coastlines and islands of Australia, New Zealand, South America and South Africa.
Weaving together sea captains’ journals, whalers’ log books, explorers’ letters, scientific research and ancient beliefs with her own voyage of discovery, Joy McCann reveals the secrets of a little-known ocean.
Wild Sea explores a little-known ocean and its emerging importance as a barometer of planetary climate change
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Our Big Blue Backyard: New Zealand’s Oceans and Marine Reserves
Artist/Author: Hunt, Janet.$60.00 Read moreOUT OF PRINT. A landmark book about New Zealand’s marine reserves that connects readers to New Zealand waters. Written by award-winning natural history writer Janet Hunt, this book examines New Zealand’s 34 marine reserves, and the need to protect and preserve our seas and foreshores in their natural state. Each chapter contains features about outstanding plants, birds, fish, mammals, invertebrates and crustaceans as well as interviews and items of interest about people associated with marine conservation such as divers, underwater camera operators and marine biologists. From New Zealand’s most distant marine reserves (the Kermadecs and the Auckland Islands) to the Poor Knights, and from the five reserves of the Hauraki Marine Park to the ten reserves of Fiordland, this book also covers New Zealand’s marine animals and their unique environments. It’s a fascinating tale, with stories of conger eels prowl for sleeping fish, mass gatherings of fish, tropical turtles, the snatch-and-grab habits of gannets and much much more. Based on a six-episode television series made by Natural History New Zealand and which is to be screened on TVNZ in late 2014 but it goes much further than the six episodes go. This entertaining, beautiful and engaging book about our little-known backyard oceans, the place where the world’s largest marine predators and weirdest fish live, covers a wide variety of life from the sub-tropical seas to the sub-Antarctic oceans. It makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the sometimes contested waters that surround us.
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Wild Dunedin: the natural history of New Zealand’s wildlife capital.
Artist/Author: Peat, Neville and Brian Patrick.$45.00 Add to cartHome to an amazing range of habitats and landscapes, Dunedin city and its environs boasts a great diversity of plants, animals, birds, insects and geological features. From the ocean, with its albatrosses and penguins, to the high alpine zone of inland ranges, this book introduces a magnificent natural environment. This brand-new fully revised edition of Wild Dunedin includes new and updated information and stunning new images, including a look at the new jewel in Dunedin’s natural history crown, Orokonui Ecosanctuary. A must-read for visitors and Otago residents alike.
