This is selection of colour photographs presenting a wide range of subjects and localities. They illustrate some of the many changes that have taken place in New Zealand's railway scene since the 1970s. The earliest scenes included were taken in 1974 and show one of the original 'Df' class diesel-electric locomotives of 1954 still in service in Tauranga. A great booklet for railway enthusiasts.

Pages: 20

Dimensions: 150 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-08-2000

Reprinted due to popular demand! Between 1863 and 1971 the steam locomotive was the best known part of railways, and these steel kings of the steel road touched everyone’s lives. Stories abound regarding the steam locomotive and what made them special. This is a history of the steam locomotives owned by New Zealand’s national railway system. Numbering more than a thousand, they were enormously varied – ranging from little over five tons to almost 148 tons in weight, and from the occasional failure to trend-setting designs of international significance. This stunning book combines the best available research with the largest collection of photographs on the subject ever assembled. The book is not the full story of each class; that would be an impossible task given the limits of a single volume. Each locomotive is described by class beginning at A and ending at Y with brief specifications, builders and years built and operated begin each section. The text then describes the circumstances that led to the acquisition or building of the class, the type of work they performed, significant modifications made, the decline and withdrawal of each class, and the existence of any preserved examples. Along the way we are informed about the basic structure of the NZR numbering system and the variations made over the years. Interesting mention is made of average annual mileages run by the various classes, and the running cost per mile travelled. Locomotives that did not receive a classification by NZR and steam railcars are also covered. The illustrations form a vital part of this volume. They have been sourced from a variety of collections, and they support the text fully. Photographs show what the author has written about, guiding the reader in his learning. Where a member or members of a class have been preserved or restored for running on private or main lines there’s invariably an illustration, appropriately placed last in the section. This lavishly illustrated and very informative book will soon become an essential reference work for all interested in the railways of New Zealand. 336 pages of black and white photographs case bound with dust jacket

Bind: hardback

Pages: 336

Publication Date: 01-09-2011

This lively survey tells the story of a major New Zealand city, the capital of Canterbury province and the South Island's largest metropolitan centre. Why was the city established in the middle of a swamp? What was it like to live in Christchurch in the 1850s, the 1870s or the 1940s? What has changed, what has disappeared, and what has survived from the past? Who were the people who made Christchurch what it is today? What makes Christchurch distinctive among New Zealand's cities? These and many other questions are answered in this highly readable account.

Pages: 192

Dimensions: 210 x 285 mm

One in 13 of New Zealand's native plants is now threatened with extinction. Six species have already, like the moa and the huia, gone for ever. This beautifully illustrated book combines precise botanical descriptions with lavish photography in describing 189 species officially designated by conservationists as extinct or threatened.

Pages: 450

Publication Date: 01-12-2009

Harry Evison re-examines New Zealand colonial history in the light of a number of original documents, particularly the ten Ngai Tahu deeds by which the Crown acquired Maori title to the southern half of New Zealand from 1844 to 1864.

A unique feature of the book is its handsome colour reproductions of these deeds and their plans, published here for the first time.

During intensive research in the Crown deeds archive, the author compiled transcripts and commentaries on the Ngai Tahu deeds and associated documents, which are included here to encourage readers to examine the images and make their own conclusions.

Sixteen chapters of text provide a fresh account of the period and the key people involved. They are written in the uncluttered style that won the author the 1994 New Zealand Book Award for Non-fiction for Te Wai Pounamu: The Greenstone Island.

Chapters on Maori aboriginal title and the impact of the Treaty of Waitangi and the Wakefield scheme, and the Maori policies of Governor Grey, challenge some popular assumptions about New Zealand history.

Besides the deeds documents, the author draws on original manuscripts such as private and official letters and journals, Native Land Court minutes, and royal commission testimonies. Thus the Maori voice is heard alongside the official voice.

The Ngai Tahu Deeds is intended as a manifesto for the scientific method, demonstrating the use of original primary sources to find out what probably happened in history

First published March 2006.
320 pages
290 x 210 mm

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 15-03-2006

Remaking The Tasman World explores New Zealand's most important and extensive relationship - with Australia - on a variety of levels over the past century. The authors present a combined narrative about a 'Tasman world', a working region defined by a history of traffic in ideas, policies, objects and people. From early maps of Australasia to accounts of shared state experiments, of a trans-Tasman business world, sport and Anzac bonds, the authors unearth a common past and reorder it in a history infused with wit and insight. They also look forward, envisioning a fresh start for a trans-Tasman community facing the 21st century. First published 2009 200 pages 152 x 228 mm

Pages: 200

Dimensions: 152 x 228 mm

This volume is the first of three that provides a complete review and inventory of New Zealand's entire living and fossil biodiversity. More than 220 New Zealand and overseas specialists have collaborated to produce the most comprehensive book of its kind in the world. Together, the three volumes will list every one of the 55,000-plus known species of New Zealand's animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms. These volumes are affiliated with Species 2000, an international scientific project with the long-term goal of enumerating all known species on Earth into one seamless list - the Catalogue of Life, a kind of online telephone directory. To date, only New Zealand has compiled a checklist of its entire biota. Approximately 52% of this country's species are endemic - found only in New Zealand's freshwater, marine, and land environments. We have a responsibility to the global community to preserve this unique heritage or taonga. But further than that, all of our species - including many of the naturalised aliens included in the survey - are important to New Zealand's economy, ecology, and well-being.
Written for the advanced high-school and tertiary-level reader, these volumes are also intended to be a kind of 'Cooks Tour' of the kingdoms and phyla of life that will, it is hoped, provide an appreciation of the wondrous diversity of nature.

Pages: 592

Dimensions: 210 x 280 mm

Publication Date: 14-08-2012

A celebration of the building, maintaining and operating the North Island Main Trunk railway from the days of steam through the diesel electric and electric locomotives. Not forgotten are the country stations, refreshment rooms, goods yards and passenger trains. A great book for all interested in railways and New Zealand history.

Pages: 100

Dimensions: 270 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 01-10-2010

Keith G. Brown documents Addington Workshops rich history from formation to closure and details his own experiences working as a tradesman carpenter at Addington from 1949 to 1987. The first book to document Addington's leading role in the manufacture and repair of rolling stock for New Zealand Railways, this is a fascinating look behind the fence of this once-famous facility. Lavishly illustrated with colour and black and white photographs, the workshop buildings, manufacture and repair of locomotives, carriages and wagons are all extensively covered.

Pages: 112

Designed as a child's colouring book, an interesting selection of sketches are provided. Just add imagination and coloured pencils. A4 size. 16pages