Resilience is a Holocaust story and a New Zealand story. Born to a prosperous Jewish family, Inge Woolf witnessed the Nazis marching into Vienna in March 1938. To escape certain death, the family audaciously boarded a train to the heart of Nazi Germany – Berlin – and from there caught a plane to England, pretending they were going on holiday. Hiding their Jewish identity until after World War II, Inge and her family began a new life as impoverished refugees. A move to New Zealand signalled new beginnings. Inge met the love of her life, Ronald Woolf, and together they created the country's pre-eminent photographic studio. They settled in Wellington, raising two children when tragedy struck again with Ron killed at age 57 in a helicopter crash in 1987. Resilience is ultimately the story of a woman who harnessed her past and used it to encourage a more cohesive, inclusive society. In her later years, Inge was pivotal in establishing the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand and was its founding director. She educated thousands on the Holocaust and the dangers of antisemitism, racism and prejudice, often observing that hate starts small. She was often called on by the media to comment about antisemitism and would speak freely about the need to remember the lessons learned from the Nazi genocide. Inge Woolf received a QSO in 1992 for services to the community. She was a finalist in the 2019 Women of Influence Awards – Community Hero category. Inge Woolf died in 2021 aged 86.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 200

Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 11-04-2023

Why do we need to talk about Norman? Because although Norman Kirk was prime minister for barely 21 months some 50 years ago, he still speaks to us. His belief in the state as a force for good and his style of leadership could and should be powerful guides for politics in the 21st century. Kirk was not a supporter of the neoliberalist ideology that has given us widening inequality, rising poverty and the virtual obliteration from public debate and policy-making of the workers who create this country’s wealth. His idea of a healthy country was, famously, one whose citizens could realistically expect to find “someone to love, somewhere to live, somewhere to work and something to hope for”. But the social contract central to politics in his day has been broken, and state and society are now run almost exclusively on business lines. This book, by veteran journalist and political commentator Denis Welch, is aimed at recovering what Norman Kirk stood for – a sense of government with a clear moral purpose, in which there is daylight between public service and the commercial world.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 168

Dimensions: 152 x 229 mm

Publication Date: 14-06-2023

Cream, the hugely influential 1960s British rock power trio -- featuring guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker -- and the American city of San Francisco, California, were a legendary pairing. The Fillmore Auditorium and Winterland were the venues where, in February-March 1968, the band's live sound was first officially immortalized on tape and film. Yet, detailed coverage of those historic performances appears far from complete. Inaccurate documentation, as well as a devastating 1978 fire at the Atlantic Records audio archive, made the definitive chronicle of these famed shows difficult to construct. However, recent archival discoveries led author Edoardo Genzolini to look back at those days with a new perspective. This book presents his thorough documentation of Cream on and off the Fillmore and Winterland stages, when, during those two months of 1968, they really were sitting on top of the world. The author's detailed analysis of all sets played by the band at both venues -- recorded by Atlantic Records and filmed by legendary British documentary filmmaker Tony Palmer -- and his precise look at which live performances ended up on which Cream albums present the definitive account for the first time. Also featured are rare, never-before-published concert photographs, presenting Cream at the height of their powers.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 144

Dimensions: 228 x 228 mm

Publication Date: 28-03-2023

The Devil’s Haircut is an intimate case study from the tragedy of one of this country’s worst mass shootings. The Raurimu Massacre, as it came to be known, happened on 8 February 1997 and saw six everyday New Zealanders die. Another four were left with serious gunshot injuries, and they and many others live today with deep psychological scars. In Steve’s own words, learn how he found himself at the nucleus of events that day. He shot dead his father and five friends of the family. Floridly psychotic at the time, he would later be found ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’. In the lead up to the deaths and in the 26 years since, Steve remembers everything. He has had to find ways to live with what has happened. His walk has brought him into contact with many others, both in mental health circles and in the community, and each has been able to teach him something. This is a rare insight into the mind of another. Steve lets us into his thoughts, before, at the time, and after the shootings on that day.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 372

Dimensions: 153 x 234 mm

Publication Date: 01-05-2023

An extraordinary and evocative memoir. Hillary's recall and attention to detail highlight the places and people that were important, including the Otago settlements of Arrowtown, Queenstown, Glenorchy, Kinloch and Dunedin. Central to this story is how living on the farm in the immediate post-war period shaped family life. Respect for her parents’ efforts to provide the best possible life for them all in the face of considerable social and economic pressures shines through in this remarkable account. Hilary’s recall of her time at Arrowtown School will resonate with people who attended similar schools. The memoir traces the marriage of her parents and the differences in their respective family backgrounds and social expectations. Dunedin and her mother’s family maritime backdrop is explored, as is the relevance of Routeburn, Woodbine, and Earnslaw Stations. Brought to life are the ways the seasons shaped people’s daily living, making the most of limited facilities and creating entertainment. Highlighted is the role of the lake steamer, TSS Earnslaw. This book will appeal to anyone with a connection to the area as well as all those with an interest in a unique time and place in New Zealand’s rich history.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 213

Publication Date: 28-02-2023

British documentary filmmaker Asad Qureshi works in the world's most dangerous places. When he set off to film secret interviews with Taliban commanders, the award-winning filmmaker found himself on the wrong end of the camera lens, with a gun at his temple and a price of 10 million US dollars on his head. Asad would spend 165 days in captivity before his family was able to pay his ransom and secure his release. The negotiations and eventual release were coordinated by Al Qaeda intermediaries. Throughout his time as a hostage, Qureshi was tortured and humiliated, as were his fellow prisoners, several of whom would not return. This is a true, first-person account of Taliban captivity in Waziristan, the dangerous border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Above all, it provides a stark reminder of the privilege of freedom.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 256

Dimensions: 152 x 228 mm

Publication Date: 15-12-2022

A remarkable, revealing, and riotous insight into the management of guest accommodation and transitional housing in a New Zealand motel. This true story follows the experiences of a couple whose introduction to accommodation management begins in a run-down New Zealand motel where the challenge of hosting independent guest accommodation alongside transitional social housing is revealed in candid detail. Any assumption that motel management is an easy job is thrown out the window in this revealing expose on the demands of guest hosting and the volatility of managing and eclectic community of New Zealand's transitional homeless. Navigating an intricate dance of diplomacy and discipline, delight and despair is a daily challenge in this diverse, often unpredictable environment making this story compelling, and at times confronting. The Very Last Resort is a unique insight into life from the other side of the Reception desk.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 165

Dimensions: 152 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 01-02-2023

Award-winning author, Marlene J Bennett's (Te Ati Awa) autobiography begins with a vivid picture of back blocks childhood in the 1940s and 50s. Marlene had a semi-nomadic life because her father worked in sawmills. Born in 1938, Marlene attended fifteen different schools. Marlene's account of her adult life is equally entertaining when she and her husband abandoned their plans in 1987 to retire in Auckland and decided, on impulse, to buy an old cottage in Blackball, West Coast of New Zealand and began writing full-time. In 2003, Marlene was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to literature.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 208

Dimensions: 147 x 210 mm

Sandra Russell, a Registered Psychotherapist, who has been living with cancer for eight years, suggests that finding words for your personal story can allow such difficult emotionally-charged conversations to enter the public consciousness. In The Feeling of Cancer, Sandra explains why she believes understanding your feelings and your inner world is the key to getting through intensive treatment and living with the everyday reality of your own death. Even though close to half of us will now experience cancer in our lifetime, we talk about cancer as a biomedical event, of doctors, medical treatment and disease, but not an emotional event. Because we can’t always express the overwhelming emotional impact the feelings stay inside of us, hidden away. However, although it is a huge and painful process, being able to put into words the feelings around the trauma that comes with diagnosis and treatment, and also living with cancer as a chronic illness can help in managing a life-threatening diagnosis. Ultimately, if those of us living with cancer can put our emotional experience into words, we can encourage empathy and compassion along with a better of understanding of what it really feels like to live with cancer.

Bind: paperback

Dimensions: 152 x 229 mm

Publication Date: 01-02-2023

From his earliest childhood memories, author Kevin Tasker always wanted to be an “enginedriver”. Starting the job at Napier loco depot in 1960, a period of time when he was fortunate to have worked many steam operations between Gisborne and Woodville before the final fires were extinguished in June 1967. Following successive examinations, moving through though “C” and “B” rosters, Kevin finally moved to the top roster in 1986, running hot-shot freights and passenger jobs in the Bay on diesel-electric locomotives. While the diesel railway was the backbone of his employment, he opted to certify as a fireman and driver for steam excursions, with many of those operations recalled in detail. Of course, the operational railway included interesting moments and those retold include breakdowns, restructuring, single-man operation, fighting to stay awake, speed, track incidents, closure of the old depot, decline of the Gisborne line, and heading for retirement. Having retired, Kevin was asked to return for steam specials, but eventually ended up back working part-time, training-up and operating the latest DL class diesel electric locomotives. His 55-year career spans an interesting period of railway operation that makes a fascinating read.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 112

Dimensions: 210 x 280 mm

Publication Date: 25-11-2022