This lively introduction to the Bauhaus tells the story of a radical concept of artistic expression that would transcend the boundaries among the arts. Written in an engaging style, the book sheds light on the unconventional lives of the people involved with the Bauhaus, examines the experimental teachings of the movement, and profiles its major figures. It gives an overview of the developments and ideas of the Bauhaus and offers new perspectives on the art and personalities of this important era. Including approximately 100 illustrations, this book presents the historical context that fostered the movement and introduces readers to the major Bauhaus artworks and artists.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 128

Dimensions: 195 x 240 mm

Spanning forty years and bringing together works by artists such as Ai Weiwei, Cao Fei, and Fang Lijun, this volume follows the development of contemporary art in China in the new millennium. Focusing on recent acquisitions of the Sigg and M+ Sigg Collections, the book examines them through the prism of cultural globalization and cultural homogeneity. For the younger generation of artists presented in this book, a global art market and global network are part of the norm and their work reflects these conditions. At the same time, Chinese art is now an established entity in contemporary art, and many Chinese artists are exploring what is specifically "Chinese" in their work and turning to the traditions of the past. This groundbreaking volume unfolds a new panorama of Chinese art and assesses how attitudes toward Chinese contemporary art have evolved.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 360

Dimensions: 190 x 280 mm

This fully illustrated book accompanies one of the most comprehensive exhibitions dedicated solely to three centuries of men’s fashion. The fashionable male may be making a comeback, but early fashion trends centered around what men—not women—were wearing. This intriguing book traces the history of men’s fashion since the 18th century, when young Englishmen imitated foreign dress and manners after touring the European continent. This phenomenon is only one of many explored in sections titled "Revolution/Evolution", "East/West", "Uniformity", "Body Consciousness", and "The Splendid Man". In addition to numerous illustrations of extant menswear, the book captures the 19th-century dandy, a more restrained brand of expensive elegance which became the hallmark of Savile Row; the post-WWII mod, who relished the colorful styles of Carnaby Street; and the 21st-century man—ultra-chic in a sleek suit by day, wearing a flowered tuxedo by night. "Reigning Men" illuminates connections between history and high fashion, traces cultural influences over the centuries, examines how uniforms have profoundly shaped fashionable dress, and reveals that women aren’t the only ones who cinch and pad their bodies. Beautifully produced and lavishly illustrated, this eye-opening book will certainly appeal to men and women alike.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 272

Dimensions: 250 x 320 mm

Publication Date: 20-04-2016

In lavish two-page spreads, this book presents nearly one hundred of history’s most memorable photographs — from the Wright Brothers’ first flight to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, and from the inauguration of President Barack Obama to the Syrian refugee crisis. The volume features pictures from photography masters such as Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, Yousuf Karsh, Diane Arbus, and James Nachtwey, as well as iconic images from lesser-known and unknown photojournalists. Photos that Changed the World has been updated to include indelible images of the most significant recent events. Engaging essays accompany each photograph and tell the story behind each image.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 208

Dimensions: 195 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 20-08-2016

‘Pay Dirt: ‘The Westland Goldfields’, from the diary of William Smart’ is the fascinating story of how payable gold was discovered in West Canterbury, and of claims to the government’s rich gold reward. It tells how English settler, William Smart, left Christchurch in 1862 to prospect for gold in the uncharted wilderness of the West Coast. Then, in 1887, long after the Canterbury government granted another prospector the reward, which Smart regarded as rightfully his, he was provoked to write his own ‘history’ of the early gold discoveries. ‘The Westland Goldfields’ was his attempt to set the record straight; but, incidentally, he produced a unique eye-witness account of early Pākehā on the Coast, prospecting alongside Māori, braving the hazardous environment, isolation and ever-present risk of starvation – before the region was overwhelmed by the gold rushes of the 1860s. Smart’s account, together with his drawings, is published here for the first time. Hilary Low has done a superb job of presenting Smart’s manuscript, and complementing it with a lively commentary on Canterbury’s quest for its own goldfield, and the extraordinary saga of its gold reward – a tale of hope and persistence, lies and fraud.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 160

Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 17-10-2016

Throughout his life photographer Jim Naughten has been fascinated with the natural world. As a child, he collected fossils he found near his home in Dover. Now a renowned photographer, Naughten has started to experiment with stereography and has turned to his boyhood interest, gaining access to the archives of some of the world's most prestigious natural history museums. This gorgeously produced book contains fifty images of marine life, reptiles, mammals, birds and primates photographed expressly for viewing through a stereoscope, which is included with the book. Stereoscopy was invented in 1839 to study and explain binocular vision. Having two eyes allows humans to determine distance and depth and stereoscopy shows a left- and right-eye view from a slightly different angle, as we see things in day-to-day life. Looking through the stereo viewer, readers will see the specimens as three-dimensional objects. As the images jump off the page, their incredible details become apparent-delicate bat wings, the spiraling skeleton of a python, the almost mythic form of a leafy sea dragon.A foreword by Martin Barnes of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London offers an assessment of the work while essays on the specimens themselves and the history of stereoscopy provide rich background to this photographic technology, and to Naughten's achievement in bringing to life a world that seamlessly melds the past and present.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 136

Dimensions: 270 x 220 mm

Publication Date: 06-06-2016

Polly Plum is a biography of one of New Zealand’s earliest feminists, Mary Ann Colclough, whose publicly voiced opinions saw her described in the nineteenth century as ‘our own little stray strap of a modern female fanatic’. English-born Mary Ann Barnes came to New Zealand in 1857, and soon gained notoriety for her outspokenness on issues relating to women’s position in society. A teacher and also a journalist for the Daily Southern Cross and the Weekly News under the nom de plume ‘Polly Plum’, she also engaged in public debates through the letters to the editor columns, undeterred by becoming ‘the best abused woman in New Zealand in the present day’. In this fine biography, Jenny Coleman argues that Mary Ann Colclough’s contribution to the women’s movement in nineteenth-century New Zealand is at least equal to that of Kate Sheppard. A good two decades ahead of the organised women’s movement, ‘Polly Plum’ began politicising women by writing about the realities of their daily lives, what needed to change and how. Coleman here reclaims Mary Ann Colclough’s place in New Zealand’s feminist history by bringing her life and contributions to a wider audience.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 296

Dimensions: 165 x 230 mm

NEW REPRINT - More praise for the one book that explains New Zealand and the public psyche in 2020, 2021 and beyond like no other. “James has over several decades honed his skills at political and economic analysis, with the result that he is uniquely able amongst our present cluster of political commentators to analyse trends, discern shifts in our cultural values and attitudes and point out defining issues facing our policymakers and societal leaders, whether in government or business.” Ross Tanner, former Deputy State Services Commissioner, in Public Sector Journal In Unquiet Time, Colin James describes a world in disorder as it rebalances politically, economically and demographically with a technology that is changing the way we live and ‘work’ and globalising us in new ways; looming environmental limits, climate change and biosecurity and pandemic threats; a need for new thinking; and likely major shocks such as pandemics. This, tiny Aotearoa/New Zealand must navigate as it goes into the 2020s. Much has changed since the last big social and policy upheaval in the 1980s - how this country conducts itself internationally, its bicultural makeup turning multicultural, its management and mismanagement of a unique but threatened natural environment, its economy and its now unequal society. There are many challenges but also many opportunities. Who will we be? Unquiet Time poses the questions and suggests some answers. Author Colin James is a journalist who has specialised in politics and policy since 1969. He has written six books and many chapters in books and papers, given many briefings to business, not-for-profits and government agencies, including future projections, and has contributed to many conferences at home and abroad.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 320

Dimensions: 163 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 10-07-2017

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

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