Monthly Archives: January 2011

by Bee Dawson

Bee Dawson is a social historian who has published several histories of New Zealand’s colonial women and the air force

An Englishman’s home is his castle, but for the first European settlers who came to New Zealand, their first priority was to create a productive and, later, ornamental garden. Bee Dawson traces the development of gardening in New Zealand, from the Maori gardens of pre – and early contact times through the optimistic efforts of missionaries and the other early settlers, the magnificence and productivity of the Victorians and Edwardians and the Dig for Victory campaigns of the 1940s. Illustrated throughout with historic photographs, paintings and ephemera, Dawson’s lively writing style brings to life the successes and failures and the sense of achivement felt by New Zealand gardeners through the years, as they coaxed plenty and beauty from a new earth. This book is both beautiful to look at and a delight to read.

by Raymond Richards

Biography of Geoffrey Palmer

Young Geoff Palmer from Nelson, son of a crusading newspaper editor, was a serious and purposeful child who latched onto the idea of being a lawyer when it was put to him by his well-read mother. He absorbed progressive ideas at the University of Chicago law school and planned to use legal means to effect social reform when he entered parliament in 1979. In 1984 Palmer became deputy prime minister in the radical fourth Labour government, his organisational and diplomatic skills a good foil for David Lange’s disordered brilliance. Through hard work and high intelligence, he compiled a record of reform unmatched in this country’s history, concerning parliamentary procedures, the voting system, the environment, longstanding Maori grievances, the Bill of Rights, economic reform and many other matters, big and small. He also shaped the legislative programme of the most reforming government in New Zealand’s history. After five turbulent years Lange resigned, and Palmer became New Zealand’s 33rd prime minister. His government made major and controversial decisions, but Palmer stepped down after only 13 months, following a challenge from within his own party. Written for a wide audience, Palmer: The parliamentary years is the product of research involving more than 200 linear metres of archives, as well as interviews with Palmer, his family and associates, some now deceased. It is a fascinating warts-and-all account of the political career of one of New Zealand’s brightest sons.

by Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell’s first novel, POSTMORTEM, was published in 1990 and won five international awards. Her Scarpetta novels have since become Number One bestsellers throughout the world

Kay Scarpetta has been training at the Dover Port Mortuary, mastering the art of ‘virtual autopsy’ – a groundbreaking procedure that could soon revolutionise forensic science. And it is not too long before these new skills urgently need to be put into practice. A young man drops dead, apparently from a heart condition, eerily close to Scarpetta’s home. But when his body is examined the next morning, there are stunning indications that he may have been alive when he was zipped inside a pouch and locked inside the cooler. When the revolutionary 3D radiology scans reveal more shocking details about internal injuries unlike any Scarpetta has ever seen, Scarpetta realizes that this is a case of murder – and that she is fighting a cunning and uniquely cruel enemy. Now it is a race against time to discover who and why before more people die. But that time is running out …

by Stieg Larsson

‘I haven’t read such a stunning thriller debut for years!’ Brilliantly written and totally gripping’ Minette Walters

New paperback edition published to coincide with the major motion picture. Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder – and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet’s disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

by Paul Gelder

By the same author as the bestselling Total Loss, this is a new collection of terrifying and compelling accounts of yachts lost at sea. The seven deadly causes of loss continue to take their toll, and Paul Gelder has compiled first-hand accounts of shipwreck and sinking caused by Collision, Gear Failure, Stress of Weather, Faulty Navigation, Fire, Crew Failure and Exhaustion. The moving, emotionally charged descriptions of shipwrecked sailors abandoning their yachts at sea will have you on the edge of your seat. But these accounts are more than just gripping tales of disaster – they carry valuable lessons which the survivors have been able to pass on to all who go to sea for pleasure. Praise for Total Loss: ‘The tales provide gripping if sometimes unsettling reading and many valuable lessons.’ – Cruising World ‘Sure, you can learn from your own mistakes, but wouldn’t you rather learn from theirs?’ – Sailing

Review: ‘The moving, emotionally charged descriptions of shipwrecked sailors abandoning their yachts at sea will have you on the edge of your seat. But these accounts are more than just gripping tales of disaster – they carry valuable lessons, which the survivors have been able to pass on to all who go to sea for pleasure.’ All at Sea (April 2010) ‘inspirational tales of human survival’ Yachting Monthly (2010)