Non Fiction > Biographys & Memoirs

The biography of twentieth century Maori leader, Sir Apirana Ngata, explores the impact the Maori leader had on the social, cultural, economic and political landscape of New Zealand. Apirana Turupa Ngata (1874-1950) of Ngati Porou was one of the most important and illustrious New Zealanders of the twentieth century. He was arguably the most influential Maori leader of recent times. He was born into a world in which Maori were in a debilitated state caused by military domination and land alienation. Maori, at the beginning of Ngat... read more

Drawing on George Harrison's personal archive of photographs, letters, diaries, and memorabilia, Olivia Harrison reveals the arc of his life, from his guitar-obsessed boyhood in Liverpool, to the astonishment of the Beatles years, to his days as an independent musician and bohemian squire. Here too is the record of Harrison's lifelong commitment to Indian music, and his adventures as a movie producer, Travelling Wilbury, and Formula One racing fan. This book is filled with stories and reminiscences from Harrison's friends, includin... read more

The long-awaited, never-before-told, no-holds-barred memoir from the legendary Aerosmith frontman.
Finally, all the lurid tales of debauchery, sex, drugs and rock n' roll are told straight from the horse's lips as The Demon of Screamin' describes his unimaginable highs and unbelievable lows as lead singer of the biggest rock band in the world. Prolific frontman, rock icon and sex symbol, Steven Tyler is a living legend. With his raw, sharp-edged vocals, musical versatility and unprecedented song writing skills, Tyler has, as... read more

An engrossing, touching and uplifting travel memoir from the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestselling author and her daughter. Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann chronicle their travels together at a time when each had reached an important turning point in her life. What emerged was a quest for Ann and Sue to redefine themselves and also rediscover one other. Against the backdrop of the sacred sites of Greece, Turkey and France, Sue grapples with the problem of how to expand her vision of swarming bees into the novel that sh... read more

Published alongside a flagship BBC television series to mark her Diamond Jubilee, this book is an account of The Queen's reign. With the flair for narrative and the meticulous research that readers have come to expect, Andrew Marr turns his attention to the monarch - and to the monarchy, chronicling the Queen's pivotal role at the centre of the state, which is largely hidden from the public gaze, and making a strong case for the institution itself. Arranged thematically, rather than chronologically, Marr dissects the Queen's politi... read more

'It is the desire really to make myself a first person. For many years I was a third person - as children are, 'they', 'she', and as probably oppressed minorities become, 'they'. - Janet Frame, radio interview about writing her autobiography (1983). For the first time ever, this collection brings together Janet Frame's published short non-fiction in one collected volume, as well as material never seen before. Letters spanning 50 years of Frame's life are published alongside essays, reviews, speeches and extracts from interviews. T... read more

The BBC Radio 4 series, "A Point of View", has been on the air since 2007. This is the book of the radio series.
Over the years, it's had a variety of presenters - including the national treasure that is Clive James - talking for ten minutes about anything and everything that has captured their imagination, piqued their interest, raised their blood pressure or just downright incensed them that week. Of all the presenters, Clive James was a clear favourite, and now, for the first time, his original pieces - sixty in total - an... read more

From bestselling author Walter Isaacson comes the landmark biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. In Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, Isaacson provides an extraordinary account of Jobs' professional and personal life. Drawn from three years of exclusive and unprecedented interviews Isaacson has conducted with Jobs as well as extensive interviews with Jobs' family members, key colleagues from Apple and its competitors, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography is the definitive portrait of the greatest innovator of his generation.A... read more

The first serious yet sympathetic biography by a woman of the Duchess of Windsor, Mrs Simpson.
This will be the first serious yet sympathetic book by a female biographer to explain the story of how an American divorcee became a hate figure for allegedly ensnaring a British King from his throne. It focuses on the core conflict of her life in the 1930s, with particular reference to her impoverished American childhood as a motivation for her ambition. 'That woman', so called by her sister-in-law the new Queen Elizabeth, was born... read more

Fleur Sullivan is a South Island legend, the culinary maven responsible for not one but two iconic local restaurants - Olivers in Clyde and the eponymous Fleurs Place in Moeraki. Now, at the age of 72, she's running a third, The Loan and Merc in her home town of Oamaru. Her eventful career has spanned more than 40 years, during which time she's transformed two sleepy towns into international destinations. Fleur is brimming with great stories, anecdotes, reminiscences, the conversations had round her table and friendships formed in ... read more

Bob McMurray has just about seen all you can in motor sport. Right from the halcyon days when Bruce McLaren was setting up his fledgling Formula One team through to witnessing the first Kiwi to win one of the most prestigious motor-racing trophies, the Borg-Warner at the Indianapolis 500. McMurray's book is more like a conversation you'd have in the bar about 30-odd years in Formula One rather than who set the fastest time at Monaco on lap 32 in 1987 in what car, on what tyres, wearing what-coloured overalls and with what sort of l... read more

David is well-known by all New Zealanders. His gossip columns and much awaited annual 'Best and Worst Dressed' lists are legendary, and we read with bated breath his behind-the-scenes Hollywood tattletale reports in the weekly magazines! David Hartnell is David's life story in his own words. It covers his difficult early family life, his awkward teenage years as a New Zealand roller skating champion, to becoming the first male makeup artist in Australasia, and his rise to become New Zealand's most famous interviewer of the stars. ... read more

In 2006 Marianne Elliott, a human rights lawyer from New Zealand, is stationed with the UN in Herat. Several months into her new role an important tribal leader is assassinated while she is in charge of the local UN office. She must try to diffuse the situation before it leads to widespread bloodshed. Zen Under Fire is a vivid and deeply personal account of a young woman's time living and working as a peacekeeper in one of the world's most notorious battlegrounds. As well as sharing the incredible details of her UN work in and arou... read more

You've probably heard the rumours about the world ending in 2012 right? Did you know that the smart and powerful people are secretly building three giant spaceships in which to make a getaway but it's only for them? And did you also know that to get on one of those spaceships and escape you've got to be a VIP? That's right, you've got to MAKE IT BIG! You didn't know? You don't know how? Rhys Darby has written just the book for you. Get noticed? Dance like a demon? Score with the opposite sex? Not just talk the talk but walk the tal... read more

Some say your previous cat chooses their successor. If so, what in cat heaven's name was Helen Brown's beloved Cleo thinking when she sent a crazy kitten like Jonah? When Cleo died, Helen Brown swore she'd never get another kitten. But after she was diagnosed with breast cancer an unscheduled visit to a pet shop resulted in the explosive arrival of a feisty kitten called Jonah. Like Cleo, Jonah possessed great energy and charm. But unlike Cleo, he often morphed into a highly strung and capricious escape artist. Still, as Helen reco... read more

Amanda Taylor-Ace lives her life by her philosophy of Joie de Vivre Unlimited unlimited joy. So when her 14-year-old son was falling in with a bad crowd and her life in Auckland needed a shake-up, she packed her bags and headed to France with her son for a year. Joie de Vivre Unliimited is the story of how and why she decided to stay, and how her new life has unfurled. Finding two adjoined 18th-century houses and converting them into guest accomodation and a cooking school was her next adventure. Amanda tells of renovation disaster... read more

A Rothschild by birth and a Baroness by marriage, beautiful, spirited Pannonica - known as Nica - seemed to have it all: children, a handsome husband and a trust fund. But in the early 1950s she heard a piece by the jazz legend Thelonious Monk. The music overtook her like a magic spell, and she abandoned her marriage to go and find him. Arriving in New York, Nica was shunned by society but accepted by the musicians. They gave her friendship; she gave them material and emotional support. Her convertible Bentley was a familiar sight ... read more

Alan Duff is the author of the bestselling Once Were Warriors, One Night Out Stealing, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? and Both Sides of the Moon, and here for the first time is the true story of this controversial writer's life. This memoir is the story of a talented but tormented child surrounded by violence and alcohol abuse. He bucked authority, ran away from a broken home, experienced incarceration in a boy's home, borstal and eventually, as a young man, entanglement with real criminals in England. Then there is the retu... read more

The renovations to 34 via del Duomo now complete, Marlena de Blasi, the best-selling international author and 'the woman with the fairytale life' needs to find time and space to finish a book. Lured by the offer of a simple stone cottage in the remote, mountainous region of western Tuscany, distant from the distractions of her everyday life with Fernando in Orvieto, she sets off for some much-needed solitude. But her plans to live simply, in peace and quiet, are overturned when she meets the imperious, tempestuous Antonia, the stil... read more

After years of watching Kenyan athletes win the world's biggest races, from the Olympics to big city marathons, "Runner's World" contributor Adharanand Finn set out to discover just what it was that made them so fast - and to see if he could keep up. Packing up his family (and his running shoes), he moved from Devon to the small town of Iten, in Kenya, home to hundreds of the country's best athletes. Once there he laced up his shoes and ventured out onto the dirt tracks, running side by side with Olympic champions, young hopefuls a... read more