McLeods Booksellers

The New Zealand Wars | Nga Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O'Malley

$39.99 NZD

Category: NZ History

The New Zealand Wars were a series of conflicts that profoundly shaped the course and direction of our nations history. Fought between the Crown and various groups of Maori between 1845 and 1872, the wars touched many aspects of life in nineteenth century New Zealand, even in those regions spared actua l fighting. Physical remnants or reminders from these conflicts and their aftermath can be found all over the country, whether in central Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, or in more rural locations such as Te Porere or Te Awamutu. The wars are an integral part of the New Zealand story but we have not always cared to remember or acknowledge them. Today, however, interest in the wars is resurgent. Public figures are calling for the wars to be taught in all schools and a national day of commemoration was recently established. Following on from the best-selling The Great War for New Zealand, Vincent O'Malley's new book provides a highly accessible introduction to the causes, events and consequences of the New Zealand Wars. The text is supported by extensive full-colour illustrations as well as timelines, graphs and summary tables. ...Show more

Funny As: The Story of New Zealand Comedy by Philip Matthews; Paul Horan

$49.99 NZD

Category: NZ History

From the Kiwi Concert Party to The Topp Twins, Billy T. James to Rose Matafeo, Fred Dagg to Flight of the Conchords, New Zealanders have made each other laugh in ways distinctive to these islands. Funny As tells the story of comedy in this country through more than 300 pictures and an engaging text bas ed on over 100 interviews with our best comedians. Published alongside a major Television New Zealand documentary series at a time when comedy has never been bigger, the book takes us inside the comedy clubs, cabarets and television studios where comedians work; it charts the rise of cartoons and skits, parody and stand-up; it introduces us to how New Zealand's funniest men and women have made sense (and nonsense) out of this country's changing culture and society. Funny As is the authoritative, hilarious story of New Zealand comedy. ...Show more

Keepers of History - New Zealand Centenarians Tell Their Stories by Renée Hollis

$39.99 NZD

Category: NZ History

In 2017, Renee Hollis interviewed 120 people over the age of 100, living in every region of New Zealand. Along the way, she had the privilege of interviewing 23 World War II veterans. Her goal in compiling the book was to preserve New Zealand history by sharing the stories and memories of our eldest cit izens. She wants all people to value the elderly and to read and appreciate their stories and contribution to our society. Most importantly, she wants to ensure that that they are not forgotten and do not become invisible in our communities, but instead are honoured and celebrated. In this collection of interviews, we meet opera singers and farmers, a politician and a racing car driver, a nun and a freedom fighter with Gandhi, and even a member of Hip Operation - the oldest hip-hop group in the world! They have witnessed momentous global events and technological innovations that have changed our world. From the everyday to the extraordinary, these are the stories of people who have lived through history and whose message of resilience and making the best of things has so much to offer the generations that have followed them. ...Show more

Partisan: The Incredible True Story of a New Zealand Soldier Behind Enemy Lines by James Caffin

$25.00 NZD

Category: NZ Military | Reading Level: near fine

The gripping story of a New Zealand solider who escaped the clutches of a prisoner-of-war camp to join the Yugoslav freedom fighters during the Second World War After a daring escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in occupied Yugoslavia, John Denvir reached the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, where he join ed a partisan band as a machine-gunner. Believed shot and killed by New Zealand forces and his family in New Zealand, from January 1942 until the end of 1943, Denvir led brave and heroic attacks on German and Italian soldiers from behind enemy lines. He was wounded four times, received the Soviet Medal for Valour and was eventually appointed brigade commander. When 'Corporal Frank' was demobilised he returned to New Zealand and became a taxi driver in the small South Island town of Temuka. Originally published in 1945 and out of print for many years, this is his remarkable true story. ...Show more

Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi by Toby Morris with Ross Calman, Mark Derby & Piripi Walker

$20.00 NZD

Category: Children Non Fiction

Ground-breaking full-colour graphic novel about Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi. • Accessible, engaging, image-rich design• Dual-language flip book with Māori and Pākehā authors Ross Calman and Mark Derby• Text in te reo Māori version developed by Māori Language Commission- registered translator Piripi Walker• Reviewed by some of Aotearoa’s foremost Te Tiriti o Waitangi experts to reflect current scholarship• Fills a gap in the market for an accessible book about our founding treaty• Includes a link to both versions of the treaty translated into thirty other languages and New Zealand Sign Language BOOK DEVELOPMENT An English-only edition of this book was first published by the New Zealand Ministry of Education for use in schools. The text was adapted from two articles originally published in the School Journal: “Te Tiriti o Waitangi” by Ross Calman and “Keeping Promises: The Treaty Settlement Process” by Mark Derby. Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi has been developed with help from the following people: Peter Adds, Hōne Apanui, Ian Cormack, Hinerangi Himiona, Jen Margaret, Dame Claudia Orange, Jock Phillips, Kate Potter, and Piripi Walker. ...Show more

Savaged to Suit: Maori and Cartooning in New Zealand by Paul Diamond; New Zealand Cartoon Archive Staff (Contribution by)

$39.50 NZD

Category: NZ History

The Camera in the Crowd: Filming New Zealand in Peace and War, 1895-1920 by Christopher Pugsley

$80.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

Filming and cinema quickly won the hearts of New Zealand from the mid-1890s, yet the story of the cameramen and the film they took here and in the First World War has never been fully captured. The Camera in the Crowd does that in style, bringing to fruition years of original research and archival work by esteemed historian Christopher Pugsley. This authoritative work, told with Pugsleys brilliant and engaging style, features over 350 photos and illustrations many of them precisely linked to early filming. It tells the fascinating story of early film and filmmakers, deploying links to websites where film can be seen, and featuring a still image on each page than can be flipping pages in the manner of old-style flip books. Beautifully written, designed and printed, this is a major publication. ...Show more

A History of New Zealand Women by Barbara L. Brookes

$69.99 NZD

Category: NZ History

What would a history of New Zealand look like that rejected Thomas Carlyle's definition of history as 'the biography of great men', and focused instead on the experiences of women? One that shifted the angle of vision and examined the stages of this country's development from the points of view of wives , daughters, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts? That considered their lives as distinct from (though often unwillingly influenced by) those of history's 'great men'? In her ground-breaking History of New Zealand Women, Barbara Brookes provides just such a history. This is more than an account of women in New Zealand, from those who arrived on the first waka to the Grammy and Man Booker Prize-winning young women of the current decade. It is a comprehensive history of New Zealand seen through a female lens. Brookes argues that while European men erected the political scaffolding to create a small nation, women created the infrastructure necessary for colonial society to succeed. Concepts of home, marriage and family brought by settler women, and integral to the developing state, transformed the lives of Maori women. The small scale of New Zealand society facilitated rapid change so that, by the twenty-first century, women are no longer defined by family contexts. In her long-awaited book, Barbara Brookes traces the factors that drove that change. Her lively narrative draws on a wide variety of sources to map the importance in women's lives not just of legal and economic changes, but of smaller joys, such as the arrival of a piano from England, or the freedom of riding a bicycle. ...Show more

Trial of Strength - Adventures and Misadventures on the Wild and Remote Subantarctic Islands by Shona Riddell; Cara King (Illustrator)

$39.99 NZD

Category: NZ Non Fiction

The world's subantarctic islands circle the lower part of the globe below New Zealand, Australia, Africa and South America in the 'Roaring Forties' and 'Furious Fifties' latitudes. They are filled with unique plants and wildlife, constantly buffeted by lashing rain and furious gales, and surrounded by a vast, powerful ocean. New Zealand and Australian subantarctic islands in particular have a rich and fascinating human history, from the early 19th-century explorers and sealers through to modern-day conservation and adventure tourism. And yet, the subantarctic islands are often called our 'forgotten islands' because so few people know of their existence, despite their status since 1998 as World Heritage sites. Trial of Strength is a history book filled with compelling photos for a modern audience, and one that, for the first time, includes women's stories as more than just a footnote. Balanced and engaging, it features classic tales of infamous shipwrecks, lesser-known stories of intrepid pioneers, as well as more recent stories of adventure tourism, conservation wins, and dramatic helicopter rescues. Written by the descendant of two 19th-century British colonial settlers who attempted to create a home for their young family in this bleak environment, Trial of Strength will leave you with an appreciation for the tenacity of the human race and the forbidding forces of nature. ...Show more

Touched by War by Alison Brown; Matthew Martin; Rotorua Returned Services Association Staff (Contribution by)

$29.99 NZD

Category: NZ History

The Penguin History of New Zealand (2nd Edition) by Michael King

$38.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

This bestselling book, the triumphant fruit of careful research, wide reading and judicious assessment, is the unchallenged contemporary reference to the history of New Zealand.New Zealand was the last country in the world to be discovered and settled by humankind. It was also the first to introduce ful l democracy. Between those events, and in the century that followed the franchise, the movements and conflicts of human history have been played out more intensively and more rapidly in New Zealand than anywhere else on Earth. The Penguin History of New Zealandtells that story in all its colour and drama. The narrative that emerges is an inclusive one about men and women, Maori and Pakeha. It shows that British motives in colonising New Zealand were essentially humane; and that Maori, far from being passive victims of a 'fatal impact', coped heroically with colonisation and survived by selectively accepting and adapting what Western technology and culture had to offer. Also available as an eBook PLATINUM PREMIER NEW ZEALAND BESTSELLERREADERS' CHOICE AWARD2004 MONTANA NEW ZEALAND BOOK AWARDSNIELSEN BOOKDATA NEW ZEALAND BOOKSELLERS' CHOICE AWARD i BEST OF THE BEST, 2011 ...Show more

To the Memory: New Zealand's War Memorials by Jock Phillips

$14.99 NZD

Category: NZ History

Over 30,000 New Zealanders have died in wars since 1840. They have been remembered in the more than a thousand memorials put up in public places throughout New Zealand. Except on Anzac Day, most people pass by these monuments without really looking at them. Yet a huge amount of social energy and resourc es went into creating the memorials, which were the largest act of artistic patronage in the country's history. This beautiful book, based on over 30 years of loving research by Jock Phillips, one of the nation's leading historians, tells the fascinating story of who erected them and why, and the diverse forms chosen for the memorials tells us much about New Zealand identity and the tragedy of war. The story begins with the memorials to the New Zealand Wars, explores the sculpted monuments to the South African and First World wars, and then the 'living memorials' to the Second World War, and concludes with the many imaginative creations in the 2000s. Illustrated with over 200 photographs, To the Memory will appeal to those whose relatives are named on memorials, those with an interest in war history, people who wish to discover the history of the creative arts, enthusiasts for New Zealand's built heritage, along with anyone who cares about this country, for its story goes to the heart of New Zealand identity ...Show more