Biography (243)

Hump Drivers

ISBN: 9780764361661

Author: Arthur La Vove    Publisher: Schiffer Books

Countless men served in World War II. In combat, on the seas, in administrative offices, and in the skies. This is a vivid and engrossing account in words and i...


Countless men served in World War II. In combat, on the seas, in administrative offices, and in the skies. This is a vivid and engrossing account in words and images of one man's experience as a "Hump Driver," a pilot who transported people, supplies, and ordnance over the Himalayan mountains between Assam, India, and China. With highly detailed drawings and honest, relatable, and compelling narratives, tales of war are presented and shared in such a way that the reader/viewer will be left with a deep appreciation and respect for the pilots and their crews. Arthur La Vove presents an unforgettable collection of portraits that depict how profoundly war changes a man. With poor-quality food, unsanitary and uncomfortable facilities, harsh and dangerous weather, and malfunctioning communications and equipment, it is easy to see and feel for the men who endured these hardships in such a foreign place as the Hump.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 160


Dimensions: 152 x 229 mm


Publication Date: 31-05-2021


Tags: May 2021   Biography   Military   History
$55.00
Hawkeye

ISBN: 9781911621966

Author: Giora Even-Epstein    Publisher: Grub Street

For more than thirty years, Giora Even-Epstein flew fighters for the Israel Air Force, achieving recognition as a highly skilled military aviator and the highes...


For more than thirty years, Giora Even-Epstein flew fighters for the Israel Air Force, achieving recognition as a highly skilled military aviator and the highest-scoring jet-mounted ace with the most number of confirmed victories in the French Mirage. Having overcome numerous hurdles just to learn how to fly, he went on to compile a record of Arab MiGs and Sukhoi kills that bettered any other combat aviators’ tally in the entire world. This fast-moving autobiography details his experiences particularly in the intense conflicts of 1967, the Six Day War, and 1973, the Yom Kippur War. The reader shares the cockpit with him as he describes every action he undertook with 101 and 105 Squadron, including the greatest jet-versus-jet air battle in history with four MiG-21 kills in one engagement. His final score was seventeen aerial victories. After his last battle he became commander of the First Jet Squadron, 117, began civilian flying, retrained to command 254 MMR Squadron in the 1982 Lebanon War, and flew the F-16 at the age of fifty before retirement. Along the way he met numerous fighter pilot legends such as Douglas Bader, Al Deere, Pierre Clostermann and Randy Cunningham. Affable and enthusiastic, Giora gained the nickname ‘Hawkeye’ because of his amazing vision of more than 20/15, enabling him to pick out enemy aircraft long before his squadron mates. His story is of one man’s unfaltering dedication to his dreams and his country. As the leading jet ace it is one well worth telling and, critically, it can be told in his own words. Giora Even-Epstein was born in 1938 on an Israeli kibbutz and spent his early years in agricultural schools. He became fascinated with military aircraft and the aces who flew them. He desperately wanted to fly the French Mirage III but was turned down for flight training because of a heart defect. He tried again, was turned down again, but was incredibly accepted as a paratrooper. After 500 jumps, he tried again to enrol in the IAF pilot training programme and was accepted, eventually gaining his wings to fly and fight during the critical periods of the Israel Air Force’s combat history. In 2019, after years of retirement, he was promoted to brigadier general and today lives peacefully in Tel Aviv.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 192


Dimensions: 156 x 234 mm


Publication Date: 20-11-2020


Tags: Biography   Military
$55.00 $6.00
The Little Doctor - The Autobiography of Dr Guy Scholefield

ISBN: 9780994136084

Author: Dr Guy Scholefield    Publisher: Fraser Books

The manuscript of Guy Scholefield’s engaging memoir, with fascinating vignettes about life in New Zealand early in the 20th century and England during World W...


The manuscript of Guy Scholefield’s engaging memoir, with fascinating vignettes about life in New Zealand early in the 20th century and England during World War One, has been in the archives of the Alexander Turnbull Library since 1961. Ian F. Grant came across it when researching his 2018 newspaper history, Lasting Impressions. As Grant’s Introduction to The Little Doctor notes, Scholefield made “a significant contribution to preserving and recording a wide swathe of early New Zealand history”. The Author Guy Hardy Scholefield, 1877-1963, is listed in the Te Ara Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – the successor to his pioneering publication – as journalist, historian, archivist, librarian and editor. Scholefield’s distinguished career included periods on the literary staffs of leading newspapers, war correspondent duties during World War One, and two decades as Parliamentary Librarian at the General Assembly Library and Dominion Archivist. He was the author of a number of books including the first Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Notable New Zealand Statesmen and Newspapers in New Zealand.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 224


Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm


Publication Date: 10-10-2020


Tags: Biography   New Zealand
$30.00
Sir Bob Charles - The Biography

ISBN: 9780473521813

Author: Geoff Saunders    Publisher: Hope Publishing Ltd

'Sir Bob Charles – The Biography’ is the first comprehensive biography of Sir Bob Charles. His story begins in working-class rural New Zealand. In 1960 he e...


'Sir Bob Charles – The Biography’ is the first comprehensive biography of Sir Bob Charles. His story begins in working-class rural New Zealand. In 1960 he embarked upon a career that no New Zealander had chosen before – that of a full-time touring professional golfer. The pressure was on the young Kiwi golfer as he took off around the world, with £350 in travellers’ cheques to fund his new career. If he did not play well enough his cash would run out and he would be back in Christchurch as a teller for the National Bank of New Zealand. That prospect alone spurred his success. The book is an account of his 50 years touring the world with his golf clubs. The reader will encounter the key characters in the story who supported the young golfer on his way to the very top of his sport. You will meet Ivor and Phyl Charles, his wife Verity, mentor Ian Cromb and his agent Mark McCormack. There are over 150 stunning photos in the book, many from the Charles family’s own collection. Combined with the narrative the images provide the complete picture of a notable New Zealand life. Bob Charles competed in the ‘’golden age’’ of professional golf in the 1960s and 1970s. He played with, and at times defeated, each member of the ‘’Big Three’’.The televising of golf from the early 1960s created an explosion in enthusiasm for the game. During this period, he acquired the title of the ‘’best putter in the world’’ in the eyes of both journalists and fellow competitors. His senior career delivered another 20 years of success in the game he loved. For the first 10 years on the Senior PGA Tour from 1986 he became the man to beat. The book chronicles the success of Bob Charles as a golfer - but there is more to the man than that. With his 1999 knighthood and his elevation to the Order of New Zealand in 2011 he has been honoured not only for his success as a golfer but also for the way he has lived his life. His enduring and happy marriage to Verity and the closeness of his relationship to his children and grandchildren form an important part of the story. Verity’s contribution to his career was enormous as Bob was able to travel the world, focusing solely on competing and succeeding at the highest level in his sport. Sir Bob Charles – The Biography is an in-depth study of the life and times of this great New Zealand sportsman. “Sir Bob Charles - the greatest Kiwi golfer of all. I may be accused of bias in describing the left-hander as the best New Zealand golfer of all. If we look at his record that lasted more than 50 years, I believe there is no argument.’’ Bob Glading. New Zealand Open Champion 1946, 1947. Writing for The Cut magazine, 2008.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 328


Dimensions: 190 x 245 mm


Publication Date: 20-10-2020


$59.90
From A Dark Cave to New Zealand

ISBN: 9780473528065

Author: Mustafa Darbandi   

Hiding in a tiny dark cave in the border triangle between Iraq, Iran and Turkey, Mustafa Darbandi is facing his fear that he may not survive. On the run because...


Hiding in a tiny dark cave in the border triangle between Iraq, Iran and Turkey, Mustafa Darbandi is facing his fear that he may not survive. On the run because of his membership of a banned Kurdish freedom movement, he has begun an extraordinary journey. It will take him from Iraq to Turkey to Iran to Pakistan to Afghanistan and finally to New Zealand. Along the way he will be threatened by security forces, mercenaries, police, helicopters, landmines, wild wolves and even UNHCR indifference. After several years in exile he finally arrives in his new home. "In my desperation the idea crept into my mind that death was death whether I got killed or starved to death. Perhaps putting an end to my life would be preferable to being captured by mercenaries or eaten alive by wild animals..." "When I set foot on New Zealand soil, I felt born again. After I'd been uprooted from my town and village in Kurdistan, New Zealand became the bedrock of my security, offering me an opportunity to become who I am".


Bind: paperback


Publication Date: 31-07-2020


Tags: Biography   New Zealand
$29.99 $9.99
Ennio Morricone - Master of the Soundtrack

ISBN: 9783943330335

Author: Maurizio Baroni    Publisher: Gingko Press

The first major work dedicated entirely to the discography of the maestro Ennio Morricone. Unique in its genre, Ennio Morricone: Master of the Soundtrack origin...


The first major work dedicated entirely to the discography of the maestro Ennio Morricone. Unique in its genre, Ennio Morricone: Master of the Soundtrack originates from the idea of the collector, author, and cinema expert Maurizio Baroni. Baroni draws on his own archive to give life to a rich selection highlighting over fifty years of a prestigious career, largely unseen before, which includes handwritten scores by the maestro himself, the original album and single cover sleeves from his soundtracks, and much more. This book is a definite homage to this great Italian composer of film soundtracks, probably the most famous in the world. Texts included by: Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, Liliana Cavani, Lisa Gastoni, Franco Nero, Quentin Tarantino, and many more.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 352


Dimensions: 226 x 310 mm


Publication Date: 01-07-2020


Tags: Biography   Music
$150.00 $95.00
How Now?

ISBN: 9781913159207

Author: Roger Evans    Publisher: Merlin Unwin Books

Shropshire dairy farmer Roger Evans continues to delight his fans with his daily highlights from the farm and his views on everything from how to manage a happy...


Shropshire dairy farmer Roger Evans continues to delight his fans with his daily highlights from the farm and his views on everything from how to manage a happy milking herd to the state of the local wildlife and the views of the rural community in his local bar. Funny, topical and informative farmer's diary.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 192


Dimensions: 138 x 216 mm


Publication Date: 03-09-2020


Tags: Agriculture   Biography
$34.99
Bus Stops On The Moon : Red Mole Days 1974-1980

ISBN: 9781988592510

Author: Martin Edmond    Publisher: Otago University Press

Bus Stops on the Moon is a personal and a cultural history. As memoir, it is a sequel to The Dreaming Land (2015). A troubled and restless young Martin Edmond i...


Bus Stops on the Moon is a personal and a cultural history. As memoir, it is a sequel to The Dreaming Land (2015). A troubled and restless young Martin Edmond is on his way to becoming the wiser, older man who will sit down and write both narratives. As cultural history, the book gives us a participant’s-eye view of the early years of Alan Brunton and Sally Rodwell’s avant-garde theatre troupe Red Mole. Formed in 1974, Red Mole performed Dadaesque cabaret, agit-prop, costume drama, street theatre, circus and puppetry, live music, and became a national sensation. They toured the country with Split Enz and travelled internationally. One of Red Mole’s five founding principles was ‘to escape programmed behaviour by remaining erratic’. They ticked that one off. In Bus Stops on the Moon Martin Edmond offers, with his customary elegance, a rich and entertaining picture of the high times and low lives of Red Mole.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 274


Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm


Publication Date: 11-09-2020


Tags: Biography   NZ (History)
$39.95
Leading Lady : Eve Poole - A life in the spotlight

ISBN: 9780995132900

Author: Vivienne Allan    Publisher: Quentin Wilson Publishing

Articulate and intelligent, Eve Poole had a passion for the theatre and the arts. Her desire to protect one of Invercargill’s cultural icons led her into poli...


Articulate and intelligent, Eve Poole had a passion for the theatre and the arts. Her desire to protect one of Invercargill’s cultural icons led her into politics and she was elected as the city’s first woman mayor in 1983. Cath Tizard broke similar ground in Auckland that year – the two becoming trailblazers at each end of the country. As a member of the QEII Arts Council (later Creative New Zealand), Eve played an active role in encouraging the visual and performing arts across the country. She was equally at home on the stage as an actor and director; on hugely popular national TV shows such as Beauty and the Beast, and as a member of the NZ Committee on Women, an early forerunner of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, during the UN Decade for Women. She gained national prominence for her leadership when the 1984 floods ravaged her adopted city and the surrounding region. Vivienne Allan tells the story of her mother’s life with warmth and honesty, beginning with the struggle to find passage out of Germany in the 1930s. When war broke out Eve, still only 17 and living with her family in Tel Aviv, joined the British Army, serving as a driver in Egypt. There she met the New Zealander who was to become her husband and, after discharge, moved to Invercargill to raise their family with him. Eve’s practicality, determination and humanity saw her retain the mayoralty for four terms until her untimely death in 1992.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 448


Dimensions: 152 x 228 mm


Publication Date: 15-07-2020


Tags: Biography   New Zealand
$39.99
Thomas Potts of Canterbury Colonist and Conservationist

ISBN: 9781988592428

Author: Paul Star    Publisher: Otago University Press

In 1858 Canterbury settler Thomas Potts protested against the destruction of tōtara on the Port Hills near Christchurch. A decade later, as a member of Parliam...


In 1858 Canterbury settler Thomas Potts protested against the destruction of tōtara on the Port Hills near Christchurch. A decade later, as a member of Parliament, he made forest conservation a national issue. Through his writing he raised the then novel idea of protecting native birds on island reserves, and proposed the creation of national ‘domains’ or parks. As a pioneering colonist, acclimatist and runholder, however, Potts’ own actions threatened the very environments he sought to maintain. This makes him a fascinating subject as we confront present-day problems in balancing development and conservation. This book is about, and partly by, Potts, and through him about New Zealand and the course and consequences of colonisation. It describes and interprets his life, from his early years in England through to his 34 years in New Zealand. Excerpts from Potts’ vivid 1850s diary, written from close to the edge of European settlement, are published here for the first time. Thomas Potts of Canterbury also reproduces 11 long-forgotten essays by him from the 1880s, in which he reflected on the 1850s and what had happened since – both to New Zealand’s natural environment and to Māori and Pākehā. Sixteen pages of contemporary images supplement the text. Thomas Potts of Canterbury will appeal to anyone interested in the early history of Canterbury, in environmental change, and in early efforts in New Zealand towards conservation. It is a story of conflicting goals, magnificently exemplified in the life and writings of a man who strove, 150 years ago, to be both colonist and conservationist.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 342


Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm


Publication Date: 20-09-2020


$39.95
© 2024 Nationwide Book Distributors