Licensing Trusts are a uniquely New Zealand concept now over 70 years old. Sometimes maligned, they have quietly pursued enhancing and supporting their communities with annual donations of many millions; and generated through their businesses, community assets worth $350million. They have achieved much. A Great Social Experiment tells the story of their achievements and failures: why in communities like Invercargill, Mataura, Masterton, West Auckland and Flaxmere they are greatly valued, and why in others they have withered. It explains how two remarkable men in the 1940s, Peter Fraser, Prime Minister, and Rex Mason, Minister of Justice, conceived how communities may take control of the sale of alcohol, generate profits to provide much needed hotel accommodation; and through community support donations, a dividend to enhance their community’s well-being. This is a story told from the inside. Bernard Teahan worked for many years amongst Licensing Trusts and does not gloss over the inglorious failures. Yet, for all these, the success rate has been remarkable compared to the alternative structure of private enterprise. Outstanding people dedicated extraordinary time and commitment to making their Licensing Trust successful, thus proving the spirit of community continues to endure and endear throughout the ages. A Great Social Experiment’s extensive research lays a challenge: community ownership of trading enterprises provides an alternative to globalisation, and are an important vehicle for the 21st century. The Author Bernard Teahan worked for 30 years as Chief Executive of Licensing Trusts, primarily Masterton and Trust House Limited, but also at one time managed eight Trusts. Qualified as a chartered accountant, he holds two Masters degrees from Massey University and a PhD from Victoria University. During his time managing Trusts, they earned respect as innovators and prudent generators of community wealth.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 300

Dimensions: 163 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 14-07-2017

Bounded by the wild waves of the Pacific on the east, and the more sheltered harbour on the west, the Otago Peninsula is a remarkable landscape. Today a habitat for a diverse array of wildlife including albatrosses, penguins and seals, the Peninsula has undergone dramatic changes since it first attracted human settlement. In The Face of Nature: An environmental history of the Otago Peninsula Jonathan West explores what people and place made of one another from the arrival of the first Polynesians until the end of the nineteenth century. The Peninsula has always been one of the places in Otago most important to Māori. In 1844 they reluctantly agreed to split it with the British, but the land Māori retained has remained at the core of their history in the region. The British settlers divided their part of the Peninsula into small farms whose owners transformed it from native forest into cow country that fed a booming Dunedin – at that point New Zealand’s leading commercial city. This rigorously researched, beautifully illustrated local history documents the rapid environmental change that ensued, which went far beyond the transformation from forest to farm, to the loss of birds, the exhaustion of inshore fisheries, eruptions of pests and weeds, enormous sand-blows, and huge and sometimes sudden landslides. The speed and scope of change driven by human occupation of the Peninsula were summed up in 1901 by George Malcolm Thomson, natural scientist and historian. In just 50 years, he said, ‘the whole face of Nature is altered’. Already, alongside pride in what they had made of the Peninsula, settlers felt remorse for the losses they had caused. The Face of Nature incorporates a rich array of maps, paintings and photographs to illustrate the making – and unmaking – of this unique landscape. In doing so it illustrates why the Otago Peninsula is an ideal location through which to understand the larger environmental history of these islands.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 388

Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 05-12-2017

The continuing myth that Canterbury was born in December 1850 with the arrival of the First Four Ships has to be dispelled. Canterbury did not, like the legendary Athena, spring 'fully-armed from the head of Zeus' (in this case, John Robert Godley) as succeeding generations after 1851 have been led to believe. So much of the initial work was carried out by the Canterbury Association Chief Surveyor Captain Thomas; so much of this effort, intentionally or unintentionally, was obscured by the settlers of the 1850s, Thomas deserves recognition as a Canterbury founder.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 296

Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm

Publication Date: 24-04-2017

Arthur Prior (1914–69), the founder of ‘tense logic', is regarded as New Zealand's greatest 20th-century philosopher. It is commonly believed that the philosopher J.N.D. Findlay lured a young Prior away from theology and his training for the ministry to the world of philosophy. However, as Prior’s letters to the poet Ursula Bethell and to his communist cousin Hugh Teague now make clear, he did not simply abandon theological study in order to immerse himself in philosophy – nor does it seem that it was a matter of his disbelieving in theology one minute and believing in philosophy the next. Until World War II, and, it appears, for a time afterwards, Prior seriously considered a career as a religious journalist, especially when travelling and living on the Continent and in England with his first wife, Clare Hunter. During these years, Prior wrote widely on theology and contemporary Christianity. In his correspondence with Ursula Bethell – who called him one of her ‘young progressives’ – and Hugh Teague, Prior discusses in detail his religious and theological thought and his personal beliefs and influences, including his shift from formal theological study into a world of journalism and philosophy. These previously unknown letters, which cover the years from 1936 to 1941 and his time in Dunedin, Wellington, France and London, chronicle a substantial part of a fascinating period in Prior’s development, both theologically and philosophically. Prior’s letters have been transcribed and annotated for this volume by early Prior scholar Mike Grimshaw. An essay by Mike Grimshaw and an introduction by Prior expert Jack Copeland provide further context, including a brief introduction to tense logic.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 236

Dimensions: 152 x 228 mm

Publication Date: 31-10-2018

The New Zealand Wars were defining events in the nation’s history. Filming the Colonial Past, an engaging new book from Annabel Cooper, tells a story of filmmakers’ fascination with these conflicts over the past 90 years. From silent screen to smartphone, and from Pākehā adventurers to young Māori songwriters, filmmakers have made and remade the stories of this most troubling past. When Rudall Hayward went to Rotorua, Whakatāne and Te Awamutu to make his two versions of Rewi’s Last Stand (1925, 1940) and The Te Kooti Trail (1927), he quickly found that the tangata whenua he relied on for making his films would help to shape the stories. By the time of the renewed interest in the New Zealand Wars in the 1970s and early 80s, thinking about race, nation and empire was undergoing a sea-change. The makers of television drama (including The Governor) and independent film (Geoff Murphy’s Utu) set out actively to engage with Māori advisers and performers. In the late 1980s and 90s, screen industry deregulation brought a new set of challenges. Filming the Colonial Past shows how documentaries – notably the New Zealand Wars series of 1998 – and feature films – Vincent Ward’s River Queen and Rain of the Children – negotiated these hurdles. Meanwhile, Māori working on Pākehā-led productions honed their skills. Today, the growth of Māori creative control, enabled by the diminishing cost of digital media and the expansion of platforms, signals a new era. From these sources come documentaries from Māori perspectives and new ways of exploring the past, from music videos to online histories. Each of these productions is a snapshot of a complex cultural moment. In examining this history, Annabel Cooper illuminates a fascinating path of cultural change through successive generations of filmmakers.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 304

Dimensions: 240 x 200 mm

Among the thousands of New Zealand deaths in the First World War, the 32 caused by the 1915 sinking of the Marquette were particularly poignant, shocking – and scandalous. Along with a British ammunition column, No. 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital sailed from Egypt bound for Salonika on 19 October. Not marked as a hospital ship and therefore vulnerable to German U-boat attack, the Marquette was torpedoed in the Aegean Sea on the morning of 23 October. Ten New Zealand nurses and 22 mostly Medical Corps men died. Several more were injured, some severely. And the disaster was entirely avoidable: medical personnel should never have been onboard. The Nurses’ Memorial Chapel in Christchurch honours the three local nurses who were lost in the sinking. It is the country’s first hospital chapel and its only memorial chapel to women who perished in all wars or in the 1918 influenza epidemic. It is thought to be the only purpose-built hospital chapel in the world that commemorates nurses who died in the Great War. Yet this lovely building was twice threatened with demolition in the 20th century and only survived thanks to a passionate, hard-fought campaign. Then came bad damage in the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010–11, followed by superb restoration and reopening in 2018. This vivid, compelling and attractive book tells the story of the Marquette sinking, and the scandal surrounding it, and of the creation of the chapel and the challenges it has faced. It will help to ensure that tragedy of the Marquette, the names of those who died and the special building that honours them, will never be forgotten but stand for all time.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 136

Dimensions: 210 x 250 mm

Publication Date: 28-10-2018

Hot on the heel of his first adventure Stuck In Poo, What To Do? Luke the Pook is back with this foot stomping celebration of a tried and true Kiwi favourite, the gumboot!

Bind: paperback

Pages: 28

Dimensions: 210 x 270 mm

Publication Date: 30-08-2018

From the #1 bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator of the Kuwi The Kiwi series, Kat Merewether. Following on from the hugely popular Kuwi's First Egg, Kuwi's Huhu Hunt and Kuwi's Very Shiny Bum books. Kuwi the Kiwi attempts to find a moment of peace and quiet in the chaos of parenthood, but everywhere she turns the volume just gets louder. Tap-dancing tomtits, Karate-kicking kokako and other noisy native friends join in the rowdy fun, until Kuwi can't take any more... The quirky and quintessentially Kiwi illustrations will have both adults and children laughing out loud, with a humorous storyline familiar to parents everywhere. Young readers will be delighted by the fun noises they can make to match each illustration, and as they guess which creature will pop up next. The story also holds a heartwarming and subtle message about being happy with what you have.

Pages: 36

Dimensions: 240 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 01-10-2018

Wildbore: A photographic legacy explores the world of Pohangina Valley farmer Charles E. Wildbore through his remarkable photographs. Wildbore captured the unprecedented environmental change that, by the beginning of the 20th century, had transformed a densely forested valley into farms and orderly settlements. Wildbore’s photographic legacy enables us to visualise the forests that have been almost entirely extinguished from the lowlands of the Manawatū region and, indeed, throughout New Zealand. More than that, it allows us to imagine a future where forests and wetlands are restored – to coalesce with landscapes of human endeavour.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 100

Dimensions: 210 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 20-07-2018

Those of you who want financial freedom and/or have a need to create a legacy to leave a secure money machine behind for your children, need to read this book. Herein you will learn the tools needed to invest in the commercial property sector, be it a building of your own or a share in one. No longer is this investment vehicle an exclusive domain for the rich, many mums and dad’s are learning how to play and making substantial gains to secure their future. “This is a well-written and interesting close view of investing in the Commercial Sector with some really good advice for a beginner and some good guidance to those people already involved with investing in property. I learned a lot and in the main it is a straightforward, helpful manuscript.” Rae McGregor – Editor

Bind: paperback

Dimensions: 155 x 234 x 15 mm

Publication Date: 10-08-2018