Canterbury University Press (104)

Christchurch Crimes 1850-1875

ISBN: 9781927145395

Author: Geoffrey Rice    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

While researching nineteenth-century Christchurch newspapers for another book, historian Geoff Rice was struck by the diversity of crime in early Christchurch, ...


While researching nineteenth-century Christchurch newspapers for another book, historian Geoff Rice was struck by the diversity of crime in early Christchurch, and the amount of detail in the court reports. Fascinated by what he was reading, he became diverted from the task at hand and set about writing this book instead: about crime and punishment in the first 25 years of Canterbury settlement.
The stories are drawn from newspaper reports, with further detail added from police records and the court minute books. The events are contextualised by Professor Rice's extensive knowledge of the times. It is not an academic study; nor is it a work of fiction. Rather it is an attempt at evidence-based reconstruction of crimes and courtroom proceedings, opening a window on the lives and deeds of ordinary people who lived in this place over 140 years ago.
History is usually written by the winners, and it is rare to hear the voices of ordinary folk from the remote past. Yet such were the shorthand skills of 19th-century newspaper reporters that courtroom testimony and cross-examinations were often captured verbatim, especially in the more sensational murder trials. Reading these reports one can almost hear the voices of the past. We catch glimpses of cabbies, shopkeepers, clerks and housewives going about their daily work, with descriptions of homes or workplaces, and the occasional fight in a pub.
The stories are often dramatic and even sensational, sometimes horrifying, sometimes amusing, often rather sad. Their crimes mirror the difficult realities of colonial life.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 228


Dimensions: 152 x 228 mm


Publication Date: 15-10-2012


Tags: History   New Zealand
$30.00
Inner Landscapes: 15 New Zealand Artists with Canterbury Connections

ISBN: 9781877257858

Author: Sally Blundell    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

In this book, speaking eloquently for themselves, are more than 60 images of work by 15 top New Zealand artists with links to the Canterbury University School o...


In this book, speaking eloquently for themselves, are more than 60 images of work by 15 top New Zealand artists with links to the Canterbury University School of Fine Arts. They include painters, sculptors, a printmaker and digital artists. Most of these images have not been previously published. The artists are also given the chance to speak for themselves, through interviews with Sally Blundell in which each artist addresses the reader directly, talking about their lives, their work, their creative processes - revealing their inner landscape. The artists and their work are placed in the context of New Zealand art history in an excellent introductory essay by Justin Paton. The intimate and striking photos of the artists were taken by award-winning photographer Diederik van Heyningen and are published here for the first time. The result is 15 fascinating and visually striking 'studio portraits' of some of New Zealand's top contemporary artists.


Pages: 120


Dimensions: 280 x 230 mm


Publication Date: 01-08-2009


$59.95 $19.99
CSA : The Radical, the Reactionary and the Canterbury Society of Arts 1880-1996

ISBN: 9781877257940

Author: Warren Feeney    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

The Canterbury Society of Arts domin-ated the cultural life of Canterbury for nearly a century, and played a vital role in the development of New Zealand art. W...


The Canterbury Society of Arts domin-ated the cultural life of Canterbury for nearly a century, and played a vital role in the development of New Zealand art. Whereas art societies are often assumed to be conservative and reactionary institutions that failed to nurture the work of younger or more radical artists, this fascinating and entertaining history reveals a different story. The CSA was formed in 1880 by Euro-pean settlers resolute in their vision to nurture serious New Zealand artistic talent. From the start, the institution emerged as a vital and sometimes uncompromisingly progressive arts organisation that had, over its life, a total of 2259 working members. For almost 100 years the CSA provided valued support for the arts, exhibiting the early work of generations of leading New Zealand artists, including Petrus van der Velden, Raymond McIntyre, Margaret Stoddart, Rhona Haszard, Frances Hodgkins, W. A. Sutton, Colin McCahon, Michael Smither, Neil Dawson, Andrew Drummond and Pauline Rhodes. Directors and committees came and went, numerous obstacles and controversies were encountered, yet the CSA secured Christchurch’s reputation as the artistic capital of New Zealand in the middle years of the 20th century. CSA: The Radical, the Reactionary and the Canterbury Society of Arts 1800–1996 invites readers to reconsider the history of the arts in New Zealand.


Pages: 224


Publication Date: 01-10-2011


$49.95 $35.00
The Quake Year

ISBN: 9781927145296

Authors: Fiona Farrell, Juliet Nicholas (photographer)    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

Everyone in Christchurch has their own story of the quakes. There are heroic and brave stories related to the events themselves, and also longer narratives of e...


Everyone in Christchurch has their own story of the quakes. There are heroic and brave stories related to the events themselves, and also longer narratives of endurance over the months of aftershocks. No one will ever forget this year.
In The Quake Year acclaimed author Fiona Farrell interviews people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times. Their stories are moving, poignant, revealing and healing.
This unique book takes the reader beyond the physical damage straight into the hearts of survivors, in stories that will touch a chord with every reader.
Fiona's text is enhanced by beautiful photographs by acclaimed photographer Juliet Nicholas.


Pages: 207


Dimensions: 218 x 247 x 17 mm


Publication Date: 01-04-2012


Tags: New Zealand   History
$40.00 $19.99
The Land of Doing without: Davey Gunn of the Hollyford (2022 Reprint)

ISBN: 9781877257537

Author: Julia Bradshaw    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

Davey Gunn lived 30 years in Fiordland's rugged Hollyford Valley, where he had one of the most isolated cattle runs in New Zealand. When he moved there in 1926 ...


Davey Gunn lived 30 years in Fiordland's rugged Hollyford Valley, where he had one of the most isolated cattle runs in New Zealand. When he moved there in 1926 he left behind his wife and children - and civilisation- for a tough and solitary life he grew to love.
Although quiet and modest by nature, Davey became known throughout New Zealand as a back-country hero for his 20-hour journey to raise the alarm after a fatal plane crash at Big Bay on 1936. His efforts saw the four survivors rescued, and the legend of Davey Gunn began.
Against the almost insuperable odds of difficult country, isolation, the Depression, the depredations of a burgeoning deer population and the constant threat of losing his short-term leases, Davey wrestled to make a living from his largely wild cattle.
He was also keen to open up and share the land he loved, and in the mid-1930s pioneered guided walking and riding trips in the Hollyford and Pyke Valleys. Hollford Camp, also known to this day as Gunns Camp, is testament to the efforts of this true No.8 wire man, who did more than any other individual to alert travellers throughout New Zealand and the world to the unparalleled beauty of this part of Fiordland.
It is somehow fitting that, on Christmas Day 1955, the Hollyford River eventually claimed this remarkable man. The Land of Doing Without brings to life the memories of many of Davey's contemporaries, and explores the man behind the legend: his quirks, his fortitude and his legacy.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 176


Dimensions: 170 x 240 x 15 mm


Publication Date: 14-08-2012


$34.99
Looking for Answers: A Life of Elsie Locke

ISBN: 9781877257803

Author: Maureen Birchfield    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

Writer and activist Elsie Locke was a remarkable woman whose contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand went largely unrecognised during her lifetime. In a long and ...


Writer and activist Elsie Locke was a remarkable woman whose contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand went largely unrecognised during her lifetime. In a long and eventful life she campaigned for birth control, women's rights, nuclear disarmament, social justice and the environment before such causes were popular. She wrote almost 40 books, numerous articles and School Journal stories, and was a published poet. Forthright she might have been, but the diminutive Elsie Locke was a very private and modest person. In this insightful and compelling biography, Maureen Birchfield peels back the layers of the public firebrand to find an ordinary woman who negotiated enormous personal obstacles to raise four children while striving tirelessly to improve the world around her. Recently declassified security files confirm that the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (and its antecedents) had Elsie firmly in their sights, particularly while she was a member of the the Communist Party of New Zealand (1933-56). Incorporating information from these files, Maureen Birchfield delivers a fascinating portrait of a woman ahead of her time.


Pages: 560


Dimensions: 210 x 200 mm


Publication Date: 01-08-2009


Tags: Biography   New Zealand
$69.99
New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity Volume 2

ISBN: 9781877257933

Author: Dennis P. Gordon    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

This volume is the second of three that provide a complete review and inventory of New Zealand's entire living and fossil biodiversity - an international effort...


This volume is the second of three that provide a complete review and inventory of New Zealand's entire living and fossil biodiversity - an international effort involving more than 220 New Zealand and overseas specialists and the most comprehensive of its kind in the world. Together, the three volumes will list every one of the almost 55,000 known species of New Zealand's animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms. \n Volume 2 mostly deals with the major branch of the animal kingdom known as Ecdysozoa (moulting animals), which includes arachnids, centipedes and millipedes, crustaceans and insects. It also includes the enigmatic phylum Chaetognatha (arrow worms) and concludes with a chapter on the fossil traces - ichnofossils - of ancient animal activities. \n All three 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 biological 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 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: 544


Dimensions: 210 x 280 mm


Publication Date: 01-11-2010


$89.95 $35.00
Native by Design: Landscape Design with New Zealand Plants (reprint 2017)

ISBN: 9781877257957

Authors: Ian F. Spellerberg, John Maillard (photos)    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

Popular title back in print In this lavishly illustrated book, 20 of New Zealand's top landscape architects and designers offer their wisdom and advice on lands...


Popular title back in print In this lavishly illustrated book, 20 of New Zealand's top landscape architects and designers offer their wisdom and advice on landscaping with native plants. These personal narratives showcase some of our country's most beautiful out-door environments, from private gardens to public recreation land, urban and industrial spaces, and even farmland. Stunning photographs by John Maillard capture the uniqueness and splendour of each location, from Kaeo in the Far North to Queenstown in the south.


Pages: 292


Publication Date: 01-09-2011


$45.00
Lateral Inversions : The Prints of Barry Cleavin

ISBN: 9781927145470

Author: Melinda Johnston    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

Barry Cleavin has played a significant role within the New Zealand arts scene since the 1960s. In his prints he maintains a consistently individual approach, wi...


Barry Cleavin has played a significant role within the New Zealand arts scene since the 1960s. In his prints he maintains a consistently individual approach, with a style that is immediately recognisable yet ranges from lightly humorous parody through to caustic social comment. In Cleavin's world nothing is what it seems: Lateral Inversions invites viewers to explore other ways of seeing and understanding, prompting a wider consideration of our fragile and often absurd existence.
Lavishly illustrated with over 120 colour plates, Lateral Inversions draws from Cleavin's vast output to present a major representative survey of his prints and drawings from 1966 through until 2012. Over more than five decades Cleavin has developed thematic groupings, created visual echoes and provided contemporary twists on age-old traditions. Selected works are presented within the context of Cleavin's wider oeuvre, but they are also placed within their social and historical background, demonstrating the range of Cleavin's talent and providing significant new insights into his work and thematic concerns.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 288


Dimensions: 170 x 230 mm


Publication Date: 18-11-2013


$55.00 $24.99
The Judas Tree

ISBN: 9781927145463

Author: Lorna Staveley Anker    Publisher: Canterbury University Press

LORNA STAVELEY ANKER was born in 1914. She used to joke that this was the cause of the First World War. In truth, the poems in this fine collection reveal her a...


LORNA STAVELEY ANKER was born in 1914. She used to joke that this was the cause of the First World War. In truth, the poems in this fine collection reveal her as New Zealand’s first woman war poet. There are poems here that arise from her childhood memories of Kaiser Bill. Three of her uncles died in France.
She was a ‘war widow’ in the Second World War, one of the civilian casualties who make up what is known as ‘the unsung generation’.
This collection contains the best of her published poems and a substantial number never seen before. Edited with loving care by Canterbury poet Bernadette Hall, this is a book that will open your eyes to our nation’s invisible history, the story of a seemingly ordinary life that proves to be extraordinary in the telling.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 96


Dimensions: 148 x 210 mm


Publication Date: 20-04-2013


$20.00
© 2024 Nationwide Book Distributors