Ambition: What New Zealanders Think and Why it Matters by Julie Fry & Hayden Glass

$28.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

Many commentators say New Zealanders lack ambition, and that aspects of the New Zealandcharacter or our comfortable lives limit our achievements. We are said to be too keen on time off, too concerned about everyone fitting in, suspicious of people who try too hard, enthusiastic about humility, afraid of risk and failure, and relatively unmotivated everywhere but on the sports field. And yet Kiwis achieve at the very highest levels, both at home and overseas. This book looks at what ambition means to New Zealanders. It reviews what has been said about us over the years, and compares these comments with the results of a national survey of nearly 1,300 people conducted in mid 2018. Along the way it explains the connections between ambitionand economic performance, and the science of ambition and achievement. The book is part of a broader project, AmbitionNZ. The authors have filmed interviews with more than 150 people from all walks of life, from farmers and teachers to entrepreneurs and former Prime Ministers. A selection of these interviews will be shared on the ambition.nz website when the book is released. ...Show more

Semper Fidelis by Sandra Gorter

$15.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

Planted in the sea 1200 miles from the nearest significant landmass, New Zealand was always going to be a nation of sailors. As the era of immigrants arriving by boat was coming to a close, those already there had turned again to the sea for their recreation conducting the battles of peacetime on the wa ter. First had been the Logans with their aristocrat Ariki, leading the fleet for three decades. Then came Ranger and another thirty years of men and boats battling for supremacy on the Waitemata. Gradually but surely as the sailors, designers and sailmakers learned from the innovations that were changing the world, a boat would emerge to topple the latest king of the Waitemata. But before that happened, while men still dreamed in timber, a boat did come along that was capable of toppling Ranger. As New Zealanders took their sailing skills to the world a new champion emerged, and after proving she could beat Ranger, instead of confronting the cosy competition on the Waitemata, her owner chose instead to take the competition to the greatest, most vicious ocean race in the world and win the Sydney Hobart. Little did he know that years after, having raced in every condition the Pacific Ocean had to offer, the boat, like so many Kiwis before her, would one day call Australia home, and earn her place as one of the premier classic yachts racing out of Sydney Harbour. Like the ocean she raced on, she could be fickle, harsh, uncompromising and brutal. But she was also a fabulously beautiful boat who captured the hearts and souls of all the men who owned and sailed on her. She was: Fidelis ...Show more

Living Hawke's Bay

$9.90 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

ICONZ by Belinda Ellis

$20.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction | Reading Level: very good

ICONZ is an encyclopaedic collection of 64 illustrated graphic icons cataloguing New Zealand's popular culture and identity. The book takes an affectionate look at what New Zealanders hold dear, and is intended for the local market, nostalgic expats abroad and visiting tourists alike. An abundance of ex isting material brandishing 'kiwiana' in various guises - not all, but much of it kitsch - led Belinda Ellis, one of the country's leading graphic designers, to create this iconic look at New Zealand identity. Her intention was to create a recognisable New Zealand brand that would truly stand out. The project's point of difference is in its quality of design and production standards, as well as in its uniformity of look. ICONZ pushes past 'kiwiana', to depict iconic New Zealanders, Maoridom, cuisine, products and pastimes, as well as comparable aspects of our flora and fauna. The suite of icons is to be for commercial publication and application under the trademark, ICONZ. This book is intended to serve as the foundation of the project, showcasing the icons in an illustrated book with high production values. Concurrently with the book's publication, and under the same trademark, the icons have been applied to a range of retail merchandise: art-quality prints and stationery; clothing and accessories; household items; even chocolates. ...Show more

Kiwi Working Dogs by Jo Caird; Paula George

$40.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

Jo Caird and Paula George take us on a journey inside the world of New Zealand's working dogs: celebrating the incredibly diverse roles they play in our society and the difference they make in so many people's lives. Including the much-loved farm dogs, this book explores the sniffer dogs trained for fro ntline duty at the airport or in prison, dogs trained to protect our native birds, rescue victims in emergencies and even a companion dog who can alert a young diabetic girl that she needs to take her insulin. ...Show more

Black Boots - New Zealand Rugby Legends by Phill Gifford; Barry Durrant

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction | Reading Level: new

Over 200 photographs from a classic era of NZ rugby - 1950s-early 1990s, many unusual images from behind the scenes. Fascinating (and funny) captions from renowned rugby writer Phil Gifford. Perfect gift for the nostalgia-loving rugby fan - will bring back many great memories of AB greats and tours.

The Good the Bad and the Downright Ugly Side of New Zealand Business by Ralph Bathurst

$35.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

This book charts the course of business decisions over the last twenty-five years that led to some of New Zealand's worst losses and greatest successes. From how team culture reflects dysfunctional boardroom behaviours at NZ Warriors and the outrageous management decisions that led to the collapse at An sett to the brilliance and sure guidance of a2 milk and the 'rags to riches' story of Deep Creek Brewery, this is New Zealand business at its very best and its very worst. ...Show more

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

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

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. Comes in one of four variant dust-jackets, each featuring renowned Kiwi comedians: Billy T James, Fred Dagg, The Topp Twins and Flight of the Conchords. ...Show more

WATER Quality and Ownership by W. F. Benfield

$20.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

New Zealand: The Essential Landscape by Rob Brown

$30.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

For nearly two decades Rob has been carrying his camera all over the wild parts of New Zealand, and New Zealand: The Essential Landscape is the stunning record of this work.

Cannons Creek to Waitangi Te Pakehas Treaty Claim For Equality by Andy Oakley

$30.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction

The Maori Intertribal Wars 1801 – 1840 were New Zealand’s biggest tragedy of the 19th century. An estimated 43,600 natives were killed or wounded by enemy tribes. However, this cataclysmic near extinction of our early settlers is tossed aside as irrelevant when something like the special rig hts of a mountain are abused. Judge Joanna Maze bizarrely fined a helicopter pilot $3,750 for gravely offending Ngai Tahu by hovering over the peak of Mt Cook. How has our society got to the point where this kind of “justice” is accepted? Setting up the race-based Waitangi Tribunal may well have been the worst thing to happen to New Zealand in the 20th century. This failed experiment in biculturalism has, by its very existence, nearly halted the cultural development of 14% of New Zealanders and is increasingly trying the patience of the other 86%. What, if anything, is the real difference between these two groups? What impact does the Waitangi Tribunal have on our society and how did it react to a Treaty Claim that showed its racist agenda by failing to acknowledge Te Pakeha, a tribe that the Treaty of Waitangi gave equal rights to. This book asks why we believe things that we know could not possibly be true, and why does our society seem to be operating with rules that don’t offer solutions to our modern problems. It explains how pre–1840 New Zealand was not inhabited by the “Maori race” but a number of nations/tribes who were constantly at war with each other, thus exposing the fraud on which the Waitangi Tribunal is based. “Cannons Creek to Waitangi” examines how New Zealanders began to arrive here 700 years ago in one of the last human migrations and why we behave the way we do today. The fact that the author grew up in Cannons Creek, Porirua East, not only offers him a different perspective on who really suffers in our dysfunctional societies but also what may fix them. This landmark publication explores the social problems that biculturalism and the political meddling with the Treaty of Waitangi have inflicted on the very people it was supposed to protect “…all the people of New Zealand”. ...Show more

Out of the Wild: Seven Years in the Wilderness: Jamestown Bay, Fiordland National Park by Charlie Paterson

$45.00 NZD

Category: NZ Non-Fiction | Reading Level: very good

Seven years in the Fiordland National Park one mans tale of adversity and building a dream with little more than dogged determination. Not the standard romantic wilderness survival tale, but an honest, warts and all account of one young man's unique journey, striving to survive for seven years in a very remote rainforest location inside New Zealand's Fiordland National Park, three days walk away from the nearest road end. A true story of isolation and loneliness, away from all the modern conveniences and comforts most take for granted, Charlie's tale is one of adversity, building a dream with dogged determination. Battling against considerable and powerful opposition, bureaucracy, severe lack of money, unforgiving nature, himself and ultimately his own ill health; only to find the dream fulfilled will almost destroy him. Out of the Wild is more than just a candid wilderness survival tale but includes some very interesting snippets of New Zealand's early pioneer history associated to the Fiordland National Park, the Hollyford Valley, Martins Bay, the beautiful deserted ghost town of Jamestown Bay and even the fabled 'lost ruby mine' in the inaccessible Red Hills of the Southern Alps. For the outdoor and 'back to basics' enthusiasts Charlie details his accounts of hunting red deer in the thick Fiordland rainforest around his wilderness home to using the old traditional methods to store his kills, through to trapping introduced predators destroying the special rainforest ecosystems, to living off the smell of an oily rag. Out of the Wild is a unique New Zealand wilderness tale. ...Show more