Author(s): David McGill

NZ Non Fiction

This book is a continuous commentary from Pat Lawlor's childhood investigating Katherine Mansfield's Thorndon, the sighting of the country's first car and the wreck of the Penguin. The story moves through the grim times of Depression and earthquake and war, waterfront strike and rebellious youth, the better days of test matches at the Basin and Athletic Park and street festivals, the worst day of the Wahine wreck. The modern era saw Wellington the proving ground for the mixed blessings of public housing, a motorway through the heritage heart of the city prompting the country's preservation movement to fight rampant progress. This climaxed in the demolition frenzy of the 80s, the stalemate of preservationists and progressives failing to destroy the Michael Fowler Centre and the old town hall. The result was both structures combining to make Wellington the cultural capital of the country.



Many of the pristine pictures of developing Wellington have not been seen before, including fold-out panoramas as only the old plate photographers could make them, of beach and city vistas, culled from Wellington City archives, the Museum of Wellington City and Sea and the Alexander Turnbull Library. Appeals to the public have also yielded personal images of the way we were in war and peace, offering one of the most comprehensive records of any 20th century city.