New Zealand Books

To the Is-Land is the first book of Janet Frame's three-volume autobiography, described by Michael Holroyd as 'one of the greatest autobiographies written this century.' It chronicles her childhood and adolescence spent in a materially poor but intellectually intense railway family in the 1920s and 30s. First published in 1983, it won the prestigious Wattie Book of the Year.

Janet Frame is New Zealand's best-known living writer. In addition to her autobiography she has written eleven novels, four collections of short stories, a volume of poetry and a children's book. Her books have won numerous prizes, includung the Commonwealth Prize for Literature in 1989 for her novel The Carpathians. She has been a Burns Scholar, a Sargeson Fellow, and has won the New Zealand Scholarship in Letters. She has also been made as Additional Member of the Order of New Zealand and awarded the CBE, an honorary doctorate in literature by the University of Otago, and is an honary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
--- from book's back cover



Angel at My Table (A Women's Press Classic)
The Envoy From Mirror City an Autobiography Volume 3

As a life long artist who is always looking for inspiration, I was impressed with this collection of images from
the aboriginal people of Australia and New Zealand. In looking at these line drawings, we get a sense of how
they perceive their world and express deep connection to their reality. I was also impressed by the sense of
"sharing" that this generous collection reveals. From a purely mechanical aspect, I believe the images will be
very useful, altho I wished for a few more in color, as well. It is easy to imagine using these images for all the
avenues suggested on the cover.

Too often Australia's development is written off as a bunch of British prisoners sent there for punishment - when in fact there were some notable individuals in its history. "Alexander Collie: Colonial Surgeon, Naturalist, and Explorer" is a look at one of those notable individuals, Alexander Collie, a renown scientist from Scotland who did much to help the colony in its early days and helped establish it for future generations. A complete look at a oft-forgotten individual, "Alexander Collie: Colonial Surgeon, Naturalist, and Explorer" is highly recommended for community library biography collections.

The second volume of Janet Frame's autobiography traces her development as a writer from teacher training days, through her short-lived teaching career (ending with her walking out of class and never looking back, with which I can wholeheartedly empathise) to her being mentored twenty-four hours a day by the established New Zealand writer, Frank Sargeson. Despite her failure to understand his homosexual leanings, the warmth of her relationship and appreciation of his friendship are transparent.

An Angel At My Table is a worthwhile read for any aspiring author first setting out - Janet's way of writing is described with humour and insight. We are even told how Frank Sargeson seemed to be rather taken aback by the relative ease of her writing, not realising that, whenever he came within earshot she would start typing `This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlock speak and in accents disconsolate answer the wail of the forest' over and over again, alternating this with the slightly less erudite `The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog'. After all, she did not wish her mentor to suspect her of lack of productivity!

Though she only briefly refers to her many years spent in Seacliff Hospital, the mental anguish and emotional turmoil of these years clearly is shown to result in her greater self-awareness and appreciation. She writes: "I was taking my new status seriously. If the world of the mad were the world where I now officially belonged (lifelong disease, no cure, no hope) then I would use it to survive, I would excel in it. I sensed that it did not exclude my being a poet." At which point I put the book down, gave a great whoop of delight and danced around the room. You see, I, too, am a poet *wry grin*

This book provides researchers with invaluable access to the correspondence of the Anglican Prelates.

The compilers have assiduously examined the Lambeth Palace files to make these available to those requiring information regarding the formation of the Anglican Communion in the Pacific.

A great achievement.

Doris LeRoy, PhD candidate, Victoria University, Footscray Park, Victoria Australia.

I read this book for a graduate course in Roman history. It is an indispensable primary source for students of Roman history.

On the first page of his Annals of Imperial Rome, Tacitus wrote that Octavian "seduced the army with bonuses, and his cheap food policy was successful bait for civilians." Tacitus' description of Augustus' transformation of Rome from a republic into an empire is most illuminating as well. "Upper-class survivors found that slavish obedience was the way to succeed, both politically and financially. They had profited from the revolution, and so now they liked the security of the existing arrangement better than the dangerous uncertainties of the old regime."

Sir Ronald Syme relied heavily on the work of Tacitus for his cogent narrative of Octavian's rise to power as Augustus. Syme's in-depth study of Tacitus' life and work was published in 1958. Tacitus' historical accuracy was doubted for centuries and Syme made a project of re-evaluating the accuracy of his historical writings. Syme believed that Tacitus was in a unique position to write about the birth and early political history of the Imperial period in Rome due to his very active political life. Tacitus had served as a senator, consul, and proconsul of Asia. In addition, he was known to be an excellent orator in his day. In his writings, Syme believed that Tacitus provided excellent accounts of Augustus' rise to power and his career as Rome's first Emperor.

Tacitus delved into the machinery of the new government, including Augustus' use of patronage as well as his many thwarted attempts at planning for his own succession. What Syme found was a man that grew very adept politically and whose political maturity rapidly developed at an early age. At eighteen, he was named as heir to Julius Caesar. He grew into the greatest Roman princeps spanning fifty-six years until his death. Augustus knew that to retain power he had to maintain the general consent of the governed. He astutely maintained order not by following the constitution or past precedent, but by using the tremendous resources at his disposal. Augustus kept the plebeians in check making sure they were fed, kept them amused with games, and constantly reminded them that he was protecting them from the oppression of the nobiles.

Augustus became the "leader of a large and well organized political party as the source and fount of patronage and advancement."

Recommended reading for those interested in Roman history, military history.

It is real good

This is a fascinating compliation of true stories about some of the bravest people ever! Their stories of death, suffering and discovery in THE final frontier of our planet are absolutely riveting! If you "get" why they did it, you'll treasure this book. Even if you don't understand their reasons for having to explore Antarctica, you'll still be i for a great read and find a special respect for these true warriors.

I found this book very informative and easy to understand. This book is full of information.
Loved it

The author served along the British general in command of the Royal Marines Brigade in the Malvinas and later wrote Nine Battles to Stanley (published in 1999) that studied the ground war in much greater detail. Nicholas van der Bijl establishes that the 601st and 602nd Commando Units of the Argentine Army gave the British patrols a lot of trouble prior to the final battles. He sheds new light on the battle for Goose Green by proving that an Argentine company there was made up of tough hand-picked conscripts that had undergone Commando-training. I believe that this was the reason the Paras went through such a horrible time at Goose Green. I enjoyed this book for its colour plates and pictures of the elite RI 25. It is a good companion to his latest book Nine Battles to Stanley (click "Book Search" to find it or otherwise you will make no progress)in which he describes in great detail the ground war from the Argentine side, naming practically all the Argentine platoon commanders that saw action on Mount Harriet and Two Sisters, describing in detail the numerous Argentine platoon-sized nocturnal counterattacks that took place and which involved roughly 600 Argentine conscripts and regulars. The British commanders as his second books establishes, severely underestimated the Argentines, which resulted in higher (that could have otherwise been avoided)casualties among the British patrols and platoons that took the hills.