New Zealand Books

This is a marvelous book. It is in Samoan only, but even if you are just
a beginner it is great to have a real Samoan text that - unlike the
Samoan Bible - represents authentic Samoan culture and history.
And an added plus - it marks all the long vowels and glottal stops.

Nga Pepeha a Nga Tipuna is a definitive and exhaustive anthology of the sayings and proverbs of the Mâori people of Aotearoa (New Zealand).
Such sayings remain a feature of mâori life, and are especially used in oratory. For mâori a work such as this is a tâonga, a treasure. For others wanting to gain an appreciation of mâori and their world view, the assembled pepeha offer a window into that.

Contents Include:

* "The long water expedition hither," 1883 and 1840 - Anna Cook and Ellen Moger

* "Fatigue and bustle at Australind," 1841 - Louisa Clifton

* "'But what, oh, what can I do?': Journal at Yesabba, 1843-4" - Annie Baxter

* "Expectations sadly blighted, 1840-51" - Penelope Selby

* "Ladies and mushrooms, 1867-72" - Louisa Geoghegan, M.A. Oliver, Ellen Ollard, Rosa Payne

* "Travelling through a strange land, 1882 and 1883" - Ann Williams and Lucy Jones

* "'We was coming to better ourselves', 1840s" - Sarah Davenport

The book gives an excellent overview of the art in the Oceanic region with special emphasis on New Guinea.

The contributions are organised geographically and then by tribes. The book not only depicts extraordinary and seldom documented works of art from museums and private collections but also provides valuable information on the ethnological and social context of the works displayed.

Photographs and layout are outstanding and the printing is of the highest quality.

It is a must for all those interested in the art of the region or in tribal art in general.

Hoyt has not done any injustice in summarising Malacca's last 500 odd years in 80 pages. This is certainly one of the better history books I've read. It reads like a novel, I felt I was back in old Malacca, in the thick of all the action, living through the Portugese, Dutch and British occupation. I have recently returned from Malacca and it was exactly the way Hoyt has told it. I reminded myself, this book is not fiction, its real, these things happened and how wonderful to have somebody like Hoyt to write it

As the author states in the beginning of this book, it is not a historical account or individual memoir. Instead, it is a journey into the nucleus of the SAS. The PATROL is the tool used to propel this account, which is the basic SAS fighting element. This book takes you through selection and training of patrol members, preparation and execution of patrols in Borneo, New Guinea, and Vietnam. This book spares no detail of operational patrols, from the warning order to mission debrief, it is all covered here. The book reads more like a how-to book highlighted with actual accounts of mission debriefs, this is just a treasure of lessons learned, that still apply today. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Special Air Service (SAS), or anyone that is in the military field of Reconnaissance, scouting, sniping or special operations.

This fabulous book fills a hole in Australian Aboriginal history in the 1930's when Aboriginal girls were taken away from their families to be "integrated" into white society. The book tells the story of "Ming", a white lady who had several of these Aboriginal servants, and of her fight with the ruling white classes in Australia at the time, to give the women their money, their rights, their dignity etc.
WONDERFUL book indeed!
Anyone who is seriously interested in Aboriginal history and politics will find this book fascinating reading.

Organisational Behaviour by Stephen Robbins is an enlightening book about the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behaviour within organisations. After reading the book, one should know how to use the knowledge gained to ensure the effectiveness of their organisations, whether commercial entities or not. The author includes self-assessments that should reinforce what one would have learnt about skills, beliefs, attitudes and interests.

The author presents in a simple and straightforward way the main organisational behaviour theories and concepts that relate to individuals, groups and structure of organisations. The reader will be able to understand the operation of organisations at micro and macro levels.

This book is highly recommended for all those who wish to know about individual and group behaviour well. This is particularly the case for industry leaders as well as those studying organisational behaviour at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The book is up to date and suitable and relevant to readers from any part of the world.

Oswald Chambers packed a lot of living in his short live span, i.e., 43 years. One contemporary described him as a "preacher, teacher, artist, humorist, philosopher, and poet." He lived out the well-examined life. This life-long student traveled extensively and read eclectically.

Jim Reimann points out that since Chambers believed that God engineered our circumstances, he accomplished his designated tasks and lived until he completed his mission. The phrase "divine completion" is used to note the closure Chambers attained before departing this life.

Two nuisances that did not diffuse his energy were worry and criticism. He frequently refocused and cast down those distractions by two pithy reminders to himself: "I refuse to worry." "Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come."

It seems he had a premonition of what was in store for him as he recorded early in his journal, "I feel I shall be buried for a time, hidden away in obscurity; then suddenly I shall flame out, do my work, and be gone."
Chambers gained friends from numerous countries in his international travels. Like Louis L'Amour he coupled traveling with reading and learned through both means.

His love of books is captured in a letter to his sister, written from a Holiness campmeeting in the USA:
"My box has at last arrived. My books! I cannot tell you what they are to me--silent, wealthy, loyal lovers. To look at them, to handle them, and to reread them! I do thank God for my books with every fiber of my being. Friends that are ever true and ever your own. Why, I could have almost cried for excess of joy when I got hold of them again. I see them all just at my elbow now--Plato, Wordsworth, Myers, Bradley, Halyburton, St. Augustine, Browning, Tennyson, Amid, etc. I know them; I wish you could see how they look at me, a quiet calm look of certain acquaintance." (p. 70)

Chambers studied the Bible on a constant basis. He was an intercessory prayer warrior who built his intercession on his relationship with Jesus Christ. As a missionary based in Egypt during WWI he confronted tragedy daily and ministered to men faced with death every day. He lived a pracitcal faith, a faith based on reality, but with a fully engaged mind. He was well able to give an answer for the hope that resided within him.