General History

The Penguin History of New Zealand Illustrated, a comprehensive and accessible history of New Zealand by historian Michael King. 

Hardback. illustrated, 464 pages. NEW.

Helen Beaglehole's Lighting the Coast is the first comprehensive history of New Zealand's system of 'well placed and effective' lighthouses that were essential for 'the great maritime future' the government envisaged. It also reveals much about the lives of the lighthouse keepers and their families who chose to live in the most remote parts of the country.

Hardback. 352 pages. NEW.

DIGGERS, HATTERS & WHORES. The Story of the New Zealand Gold Rushes. An excellent fully illustrated addition to the literature on New Zealand goldfield history. This book places the rushes in their international context and systematically examines the various New Zealand fields.  

Hardback. 544 pages. NEW.

CONNECTING THE COUNTRY. New Zealand's National Grid 1886-2007. This book tells the story of the development of the national grid from the earliest days and the engineers, surveyors, linemen and operators who made it possible.

Hardback. 376 pages. NEW.

WAR & CLASS. The Diary of Jack McCullough.The diary records a period in society beset with economic turmoil and war. McCullough was a political reformer, a pragmatic idealist who worked tirelessly to better the lives of others through protest, union and arbitration court activity. This took him close to the centres of power and he was a very influential figure in the developing socialism of the period.

Softback. 408 pages. NEW. 

NEW ZEALAND CENTENNIAL 1840-1940. A booklet produced by the N.Z. Department of Tourist and Publicty to celebrate the country's centennial in 1940. Wellington: New Zealand Government Department of Tourist and Publicity, 1940.

ALWAYS THE SOUND OF THE SEA. The Daily Lives of New Zealand's Lighthouse Keepers. Drawing on a rich and intriguing mix of letters, diary extracts, official correspondence and interviews, from an 1872 diary to interviews with the last of the lighghouse keepers themselves, Helen Beaglehole brings together accounts of the life and work of these resourceful New Zealanders. The book is richly illustrated.

Softback. 264 pages. NEW. 

THE TAURANGA JOURNALS. Letters and Journals of William & Jane Williams. "Through their letters and through William's missionary journeys they were closely in touch with the busy, gossipy, complicated Maori-missionary-Government-settler scene of the whole colony. Published in 1974.

Hardback with dust jacket in good condition. 659 pages. Secondhand. 

PLEASURES OF THE FLESH. Sex & Drugs in Colonial New Zealand. 1840-1915. Offers a delightfully fresh analysis of the combination of Christian and non-religious strands in New Zealand social life. It reveals the astonishing doctoring of drugs, from morphine to tea, by capitalist and quack alike, and it gives us throughout a provocative insight into the sexual and drug taking practices that many might prefer to ignore. Published in 1984.

Hardback with dust jacket. 303 pages. Condition: as new. SECONDHAND. 

New Zealand 1826-1827 from the French of Dumont D’Urville. ‘An English translation of the Voyage de l’Asrolabe in New Zealand Waters with an introductory essay by Olive Wright’, Wellington, Wingfield Press, 1950.

Hardback with dust-jacket, illustrated, 24 cm, 251 pages. SECONDHAND

Official Record of the and South Seas International Exhibition Dunedin 1925-1926. Issued by the  South Seas Exhibition Company Ltd. Contains detailed description of each of the courts that made up the exhibition. Dunedin Coulls Somerville Wilkie Ltd, 1926 (Bagnall T351).

Hardback with numerous illustrations, including panorama pull-outs of the exhibition buildings, and the art galleries, some foxing, 25 cm, 168 pages. SECONDHAND

NO OTHER HOME THAN THIS. A History of European New Zealanders.An epic and fascinating story that answers fundamental questions about European New Zealanders: Where did they come from? What values, attitudes and cultural baggage did they bring with them? What does the heritage of Europe mean to New Zealanders? What did it take for Europeans to become 'Pakeha' and gain a sense of place?

Hardback. 364 pages. NEW.

The History of Methodism in New Zealand, Wellington, McKee & Co Publishers, 1900. A very comprehensive social history (Bagnall M1994). Part I describes the early Maori Mission, Part II, The Colonial Churches contains details of each Methodist church built in this country and the ministers who led them. Illustrated, numerous black and white photographs, 28.5 cm, 512 pages. Hardback, scuffed blue cloth covers with embossed front decorated with Maori warrior portrait head. Discoloured endpapers and some insect damage to same but text fine. Very heavy please contact regarding postage. SECONDHAND

Guide to the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trail. Auckland, Raupo/Penguin Group, 2008.

Softcovers, illustrated, 192 pages. NEW

Old South. Life and Times in the Nineteenth-Century Mainland. A history of New Zealand's South Island. Auckland, Penguin Group, 2009.

Softcovers, 344 pages. NEW

Making Peoples. A History of the New Zealanders from Polynesian Settlement to the end of Nineteenth Century. Auckland, Penguin Group, 2007.

Softcovers, 497 pages. NEW

THE PENGUIN FIELD GUIDE TO NEW ZEALAND ARCHAEOLOGY. Begins with a general history of archaeology in New Zealand, and description of sites such as pa, pits, middens, umu, redoubts and mines. Part two is divided into regions, covering sites of Maori origin to later nineteenth-century industrial archaeology including coal and goldmining.

Softback, illustrated, 262 pages. NEW

Professor Salmon's definitive text, A History of Gold-Mining in New Zealand. Includes goldmining in the Coromandel, Collingwood, Buller, Otago, Dunstan, Wakatipu, Taieri, Wakamarina and the West Coast, Waihi and Thames. This facsimile edition published by Cadonbury Publications, Christchurch, 1996, (originally published by the Government Printer, 1963).

Softback, illustrated, 1996, 315 pages. NEW

The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Volume One, 1769-1869. Published by Bridget Willams Books & The Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington. 1998 reprint of 1990 edition.

Hardback with dust-jacket, 674 pages. SECONDHAND 

The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Volume Two, 1870-1900. Published by Bridget Willams Books & The Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington. 1993.

Hardback with dust-jacket, 664 pages. SECONDHAND

The Southern Cross and the Southern Crown or The Gospel in New Zealand by Miss Tucker. A history of the Church Missionary Society and other missionaries in New Zealand. 2nd edition, London, James Nisbet and Co, 1855. Frontispeace of a Maori chief lying in state at Waikanae. Spine bumped and previous owner's name clipped from front endpaper.

Hardback, illustrated, map, 263 pages. SECONDHAND