New Zealand Books

Compiled and edited by John Stenhouse (Faculty member, Department of History, University of Otago) and Brett Knowles (Senior Teaching Fellow in Church History in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Otago) with the assistance of academician Antony Wood, The Future Of Christianity: Historical, Sociological, Political And Theological Perspectives From New Zealand is comprised of contributions by a group of New Zealand scholars, theologians, historians and lawyers who examine the relationship of New Zealand's Western culture and Christianity. Scholarly, articulate, intellectually engaging, The Future Of Christianity ranges from Allan K. Davison's "Christianity and National Identity: The Role of the Churches in the Construction of Nationhood", to Mary Petersen's The Future of Christianity in New Zealand: What Is Happening with the Children?", to Peter Lineham's "Social Policy and the Churches in the 1990s and Beyond", to Mike Riddell's "Beyond Ground Zero: Resourcing Faith in a Post-Christian Era Obligation". These and the other informative and intellectually challenging articles make The Future Of Christianity very highly recommended reading.

The circumstances, possibilities, and issues concerning Christianity in New Zealand are a microcosm of these elsewhere in the Western world. This multidisciplinary work aims to inform readers of perspectives and realities regarding contemporary Christianity not reflected or suggested in the popular media. Focus on certain anomalies is especially revealing, as well as to some degree predictive of Christianity's possible future depending on how these are resolved. Kevin Ward, a lecturer of Church issues in the modern world, explores how the "fragmentation and religious pluralism" in postmodernism not only limit and distort understanding of beliefs and developments in Christianity, but also shape strategies for Christians wishing to be a part of modern culture. "Believing Without Belonging" is part of the title of Ward's article. Another by Bruce Knox, Executive Director of Bible College in New Zealand, explores the apparent anomaly that "Christian Allegiance Is Declining, Yet Theological Education Is Booming." The role of religion in shaping the New Zealand national identity, even as the nation was "set up more or less decisively independent of any denominational church influence," is another relevant topic; while a couple of other articles take up political solutions for dealing with the desire of Christians to see their beliefs and values reflected more plainly in government policies and activity. The number of articles by theologians, historians, and sociologists, among others, with their fingers on the pulse of contemporary Christian situations and concerns offer a variety of views on the persistent matter of religion in contemporary life and current affairs.

This is a great book for children! I read it when i was younger and it took me to magical places in my head, the details allowed me to picture every story perfectly and believe in fantasy, even though i really don't. It makes you imagine.

This book is great for children.


Highly reccamended.

The Global Studies series is a great way to get a general overview about a region of the world and its quick history. Each country is divided up into a quick overview of demographics, trade, economics, population and other pertinent data similar to a scaled down CIA world fact book. There is then a general overview of each country and how it has played its part in the region with a particular focus on World War II to the present. Finally there are about 24 articles in this one that focus on all sorts of different aspects from the region. They address everything from gambling opportunities in Macau to population control in Japan. Overall this book does an excellent job of capturing the Pacific Rim and the countries that reside there. It is a great start to learning about the region and provides an overview that will give you a focus to direct further investigations. If you are just getting started on this area of the world as I am you will find it an invaluable resource.

Book was new and just as described. Good information regarding Japan's history and economy as well as good information on countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.

I wish this book was in print, I read it from the library and was quite frankly amazed. It mightn't be everyone's cup of tea, but for me, the author got into my mind and wrote down what I think and feel. It tells the story of one boy, and his struggling descent into delinquence due to his father's alchoholism, and the gradual break down of his family. Read it.

I thought this classic had been lost forever, and I'm so glad Penguin have republished it.

Jimmy Sullivan is a troubled adolescent relating the events which plunged him into turmoil. He has an existential bravado, swearing that he's going to put God in His place, that he's going to tell the 'truth' to the world about God.

The narrator's naivete is masterfully used to create dramatic irony and suspense.

It was a punch in my guts as I read his explosion of confusion and violence against everyone he loves in the midst of family disaster. The book and character are wound up dynamite, uneasy, brutal.

It was originally published in 1957, 6 years after THE classic of adolesence that I can't bear to name here, because the poor bastard must've got compared all his life and it's like he just wants to get out from that shadow. But the comparison is necessary. They're brothers.

The difference between this and Salinger's work is that the God Boy is darker, more suspenseful, and from New Zealand.

Although some of the love letters become repetitive, this book captures better than anything the true nature of the destroyer war in the Pacific against Japan. The commentary gets to the point of the hard work and anonymous sacrifice of the common enlisted man in the desperate fight against Japan. The final letter written by Yeoman Raines, and delivered to his wife after his death, is one of the most wrenching and moving literary expressions to come from this war.

Orvill Raines was my friend. We were together from the time the ship was commissioned 4/3/44 until he died on April 6, 1945 at Okinawa. Ray Ellen (his wife) kept these letters and when I first contacted her in 1990 she mentioned them to me and offered them to the HOWORTH VETS. We published them at our own expense. Williams McBride took the War Diary AND Letters/Memories and completed the manuscript that became Good Night Officially. After our Memorial Service aboard the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge, I escorted her around the ship and was able to answer all the questions that she had, had down thru the years. It made it possible. It made it worth while

I found this in a book shop for AUD$120. One of those moments in life when you have the opportunity to purchace a masterpiece. re-released in 1999, it comes in two large books, one full of large plans in a folder, all deserving of framing. The log of this vessel is included in the second part, from its' inception, construction, crew and history of the journey that mapped the east coast of Australia. If you ever wanted to make a wooden ship model of a truly amazing vessel in a time of adventure equivilant to any Wilbur Smith, this is all you will need. It could never be surpassed, as the author is obviously one of those men who is truely dedicated to his art. The anatomy of the ship series should be so good!

I have just taken delivery of this volume and have been unable to put it down. This book is a wealth of information. Beautifully bound and boxed it is printed on the finest paper I've seen in a book like this. H.M. Bark Endeavour is not for the budget conscious. However, having owned it for just one day it is obvious the time, effort and the passion the Author has poured into researching this volume, right down to reproducing a comprehensive set of drawings of the actual ship. For anyone interested in maritime history, shipbuilding (including modelling) or even geography, I think this book is a must.

Over a million Americans passed through Australia between 1942 and 1945, and the U.S. military distributed this little volume to describe what they would find there. The U.S. Army's Special Service Division did what they could to acclimate the troops:

"Australians eat and drink too."

"The Australian has few equals in the world at swearing."

"Housewives 'down under' are supposed to make coffee with a pinch of salt and a dash of mustard, but that's probably just another Axis propaganda story."

"The worst thing an Australian can say about anyone is: "He let his mates down". A man can be a "dag" (a cutup) or "rough as bags" (a tough guy), but if he sticks with the mob, he's all right."

"Of course, the best thing any Australian can say about you is that you're a "bloody fine barstud"."

"You'll find that the Digger is a rapid, sharp and unsparing kidder, able to hold his own with Americans or anyone else. He doesn't miss a chance to spar back and forth and he enjoys it all the more if the competition is tough."

"Another thing, the Digger is instantaneously sociable. Riding on the same train with American troops, a mob of Aussies are likely to descend on the Yanks, investigate their equipment, ask every kind of personal question, find out if there's any liquor to be had, and within five minutes be showing pictures of their girls and families."

"There's one thing you'll run into - Australian's know as little about our country as we do about theirs. To them, all American soldiers are "Yanks" - and always will be."

This beautifully produced guide includes charts and illustrations. It touches briefly on geography, history and culture, and it emphasizes similarities between Americans and Australians. To promote unity, the guide advises that if one encounters a cultural inconvenience, "There's no use beefing about it - it's their country."

This is a very quick and amusing read, and makes a great present for any Australian friend if you are lucky enough to visit the country.

Robert C. Ross 2008

It is a warm and friendly guide to Australia and the Australians at a critical period in our efforts to build allies. A marvelous gift to send to all your Auzzie friends.

This book is excellent for any women that has even the slightest notion that they are in an abusive relationship. Regardless of the circumstance, Kay Douglas touches on all types of emotional abuse and helps the women on the road to self-healing.

In your darkest moments of misery and loneliness, when you don't know where and whom to turn to, Kay will guide you and give you all the support you need - above all practical, then emotional and psychological. When you are so depressed, confused and motionless what you need most is someone to tell you that you are neither worthless nor hopeless or insane. Kay will take you by the hand and lead you, gently and convincingly, and by the time you have read this book you will have travelled a long way. You will gain the courage and above all the knowledge how to leave the abusive relationship that has been undermining the very core of your being. Kay not only helped me to find the way out of my misery, but she unintentionally made my husband understand and listen to what I had been trying to tell him for such a long time. He secretly read all those parts I had underlined and he finally understood. It is too late for our relationship as husband and wife but we are making a new beginning as friends. We have an eight year old daughter and she loves us and needs us both.

Kay uses a simple and clear language. She had carefully selected a number of stories that women were willing to share with her enabling all those who feel abused in any way to identify with. Her own experience makes her words even more convincing.

WHO INVENTED THE MARINE JET? Controversy has raged for years over this question.A New Zealand sheep farmer, Bill Hamilton, has been said to be its inventor, but he himself never made such a claim. He said "I do not claim to have invented marine jet propulsion." was his response to a critic in 1962. The honour probably belongs to a gentleman named Archimedes. This book outlines the development from the 1950's thru to the 1200HP racing boats used today in the sport of JETSPRINT.

A must have.

This is a great book. Les Bloxham and Anne Stark do a very good job of covering jetboating from the very begining. It's an amazing journey and covers racing, sport and just the general evolution of the jetboat. Very entertaining and informative!

In this gripping and controversial biography, Anne-Maree Whitaker uncovers the role of Joseph Foveaux, a neglected and sometimes unfairly criticised key figure in the colony's development.

The vivid prose plunges the reader into the worlds in which Foveaux moved: the elaborate milieu of parliamentary politics and patronage in London, and the rough and tumble of the colonies of Norfolk Island and New South Wales where he was lieutenant governor.

We meet the irascible William Bligh, the visionary Lachlan Macquarie, leading colonists including John Macarthur and D'Arcy Wentworth and an enormous cast of supporting characters in Britain and the colonies.

"I have never yet met with any Officer...that is more eminently qualified for forming and conducting to maturity and perfection any infant colony committed to his charge," wrote Governor Macquarie in 1810, praising Joseph Foveaux, the man who had presided over the colony of New South Wales since the controversial Governor Bligh was relieved of his duties two years before.

If you saw any of the Sydney during the Olympics, you are sure to find this account of its early years a fascinating revelation. Based on the life of Lieutenant Governor Joseph Foveaux, demonised in Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore, this book reveals the links and patronage networks which held the British empire together. I liked the way the author in each chapter flung the reader into a physical description of the place where the action happens. And I even found myself caring about Foveaux's successes and setbacks. This is a warm, elegantly written and compelling new departure in Australian historical writing.