Michael Willis was ten years old, already keeping rabbits, guinea pigs, frogs, possums and birds in his parents’ garden and dreaming of running a zoo of his own. Then came a life-changing present: a copy of naturalist Gerald Durrell’s The Bafut Beagles. Suddenly the idea of working with animals became more than just a fantasy. A lot of hard work and ingenuity later, the dream came true in 1974, when Michael opened Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, on the outskirts of Christchurch. An immensely popular and prize-winning tourist attraction, Willowbank is home to a rich collection of exotic and native animals, from kiwi and kea to otters, camels and monkeys. But that has been only part of the story. Over the years Michael has been increasingly driven to save and conserve rare livestock breeds, many of them far more endangered than some of their familiar native counterparts. He has travelled New Zealand, and the world, in his quest to save these often forgotten animals from extinction. Whether it is rediscovering the tasselled and beguiling kune kune pig, saving the goats of remote Arapawa Island, capturing wild pigs on the forbidding Auckland Islands, bringing back to life the lost wild cattle of Enderby Island or travelling to the Galápagos in search of threatened wild donkeys, his has been a life full of adventure, and full of the animals he loves. And the search continues. Just as he did in his delightful, best-selling first book, Some of My Best Friends are Animals, Michael Willis recounts his sometimes perilous and always riveting experiences with warmth, passion and infectiously laconic humour. Rescue will make you laugh and gasp, and think. For, as he reminds us, in an uncertain world, the saving of these animals could be the saving of us all.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 304

Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 31-10-2019

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

A lot of international games have been played by New Zealand men’s and women’s national teams since the first New Zealand Tournament Team was selected in 1947, but all are covered in this official History of New Zealand Basketball. Also recorded are New Zealand junior selections, national representative results, and the New Zealand leagues from when they emerged. So is the involvement of American, Australian and European players and coaches New Zealand brought in both to widen the league player bases, and to assist broadening the international expertise of locals to ensure the Tall Blacks and Tall Ferns could compete well in World Championship and Olympic events. The book also identifies many New Zealanders who have played some of their basketball in national leagues of other countries. And it traces the basketball politics across the years. Game detail is here—’stats’, as this material is now called. But the real story is about New Zealand basketball people—players, coaches, and administrators. And the very wide selection of photographs reminds the basketball world how many local identities looked in their prime. Twelve of the key ones grace the cover—who can you identify? But there are hundreds more, as the History of New Zealand Basketball covers 75 years.

Pages: 568

Dimensions: 205 x 275 mm

Publication Date: 31-05-2022

From the Napa Valley to the Hudson Valley, from the Wild West to the South, from the mountains of New Mexico to the coast of Maine: a journey across the USA will take you to legendary landscapes with all kinds of wonderful accommodations. Angelika Taschen presents her favorite destinations: beach houses and desert camps, motels and ranches, mobile homes and tents, resorts and inns.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 360

Dimensions: 240 x 300 x 25 mm

The azure-blue Mediterranean restores the body, mind and soul! Discover the most breathtaking destinations and places to dream of in this updated, lavishly illustrated book: from the cave-like suites at Perivolas, in a majestic position high above the Aegean on Santorini, to the Hôtel Le Corbusier in Marseille, a place of pilgrimage for lovers of architecture. Every hotel is presented with spectacular photos, a short text and essential information such as the address and directions for arriving, as well as tips for books to pack.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 360

Dimensions: 238 x 302 mm

Publication Date: 31-10-2020

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." -Albert Einstein Our everyday lives are filled with a massive flow of information that we must interpret in order to understand the world we live in. Considering the complex variety of data floating around us, sometimes the best-or even only-way to communicate is visually. This unique book presents a fascinating perspective on the subject, highlighting the work of the masters of the profession, creators of breakthroughs that have changed the way we communicate. Information Graphics has been conceived and designed not just for graphics professionals, but for anyone interested in the history and practice of communicating visually. The in-depth introductory section, illustrated with over 60 images (each accompanied by an explanatory caption), features essays by Sandra Rendgen, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Richard Saul Wurman, and Simon Rogers. Looking back all the way to primitive cave paintings as a means of communication, this section gives readers an excellent overview of the subject. The second part of the book is entirely dedicated to contemporary works by today's most renowned professionals, presenting 200 graphics projects, with over 400 examples-each with a fact sheet and an explanation of methods and objectives-divided into chapters by the topics Location, Time, Category, and Hierarchy. Includes: 200 projects and over 400 examples of contemporary information graphics from all over the world-ranging from journalism to art, government, education, business and much more Four essays about the development of information graphics since its beginnings

Bind: hardback

Pages: 480

Dimensions: 210 x 315 mm

Our homes are the very essence of us. They’re where we explore and develop our individuality more deeply than anywhere else. They are a concentrate of all we are. Quintessentially so. They fulfil a human desire and are about the human heart. Our need for wellbeing is deep seated and how we choose to live, the home we create, is unique to each of us. Home is where the real you is clearly seen. Home reminds us to appreciate the small things. Dancing light. The simple art of boiling an egg. The importance of being okay with contemplation, as much as with playfulness, laughter and joy. Home explores the significance of relationships with family and, the tricky one, ourselves. Home is our nest, our safe place, to recharge and rest, explore and be our unguarded self. With tenderness and care our attachment grows. Home is about pleasure and nurturing, about varying ideas of physical and emotional comfort. It’s not what you do there that matters most, often it’s what you don't do. Home is a world you can change.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 440

Publication Date: 20-04-2022

Actress Claire Chitham has been free from Crohn’s Disease for 20 years. She tells her story about suffering from a chronic and incurable bowel condition while starring on national television and shares how she has learned to stay on top of her health and vitality ever since. Together, Claire and journalist Kylie Bailey share their combined knowledge on their GUT + CELLULAR health and offer up 76 different ways you can experiment, taste, trial and learn to grow a better relationship with your own health and vitality.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 243

Publication Date: 31-01-2021

Gina Campbell, last surviving member of a remarkable dynasty, will forever be most closely associated with the fatal attempt by her father to break the water speed record in his astounding boat. In that sense she is indeed the 'daughter of Bluebird' and has played a ceaseless role in the boat's restoration. In this absorbing autobiography she talks about:

Her life with Donald Campbell as father, early-day 'celebrity', and holder of many world records on land and water.
Her personal life three failed marriages, a suicide attempt and finding happiness in later life, only to have it snatched away; her power-boating career and setting two women's world water speed records in 1984 and 1990.
Her reaction to her father's death while attempting to set a new world water speed record on Coniston Water in January 1967.
Her complete shock at the discovery of Bluebird and Donald Campbell's body by divers in 2001.
Her decision to authorise the removal of the boat and Campbell's remains from the lake despite widespread opposition.
The decision to restore Bluebird and house her in the Ruskin Museum on Coniston Water. Her dream of once again seeing and hearing Bluebird on the lake.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 286

Dimensions: 160 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 01-09-2012

Follow photographer Frederic Chaubin as he embarks on a unique, century-spanning journey through Europe. Featuring images of more than 200 buildings in 21 countries, Stone Age presents the history and architecture of the most magical medieval castles of the continent in an unprecedented collection. Building on the success of his foray into Soviet design with CCCP, Chaubin once again documents the afterlife of highly rational structures that seem out of place in a modern-day world. Precursors of Brutalism, these castles value function over form and epitomize the raw materials and shapes that would go on to define so much of architectural history. Shot on film with a Linhof view camera, the collection is the outcome of five years of travel and investigation. Complete with a practical map and explanatory essay, its castles tell the story of 400 years, unfolding through the feudal Middle Ages into the 15th century. A photographic study of decay as much as endurance, Stone Age traces the history of some of these singular structures that continue to enchant their audiences today and that occupy a distinct, mystical place in our collective imagination.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 416

Dimensions: 260 x 340 mm

Publication Date: 29-04-2021