New Zealand Books

Edge Of The Diaspora: Two Centuries Of Jewish Settlement In Australia by Suzanne D. Rutland (Senior Lecturer in Jewish Civilization, Department of Semitic Studies, University of Sydney, Australia) is a comprehensive and informative historical survey of Australia's Jewish community, beginning from when Australia was first used as a prison for convicts; through the Holocaust era; and down the modern day -- which has seen an increase in immigration by Jews from the former Soviet Union and South Africa. An extensively researched and thoughtfully detailed examination of a vivacious Jewish community and their enduring legacy in Australia, Suzanne Rutland's Edge Of The Diaspora is a seminal and welcome contribution to Judaic Studies reference collections and history reading lists.

Gives a wonderful colorful representation of Melbourne at the turn of the century.

I wish every city was documented in this way.

1965 Hardcover (Vol. I: Geology of Australian Ore Deposits; Vol. 2: Exploration and Mining Geology, with particular reference to the Commonwealth of Australia; Vol. 3: The Australian Mining, Metallurgical and Mineral Industry; Vol. 4: Economic Geology of New Zealand). Vol 5; Handbook. Vol. 6; Proceedings - General

With many. full-page plates, illusts., maps, and diagrams, some in col., and some foldout.

This is a terrific ethnography of feminist Witches in New Zealand, and will be of interest to anthropologists, feminists, and pagans alike. If you have an interest in the pagan community of New Zealand, this book will provide you with an excellent snapshot of a large part of that community. If you are a feminist Witch wanting to share information with family or friends, this book will help. It is clearly written and easy to read, while sticking to the standards of scholarly anthropology. I very much enjoyed it, and will read anything else Ms Rountree publishes.

To deliberately wipe out an entire people is what is referred to as 'Genocide'. "Empire, Colony, Genocide: Conquest, Occupation, and Subaltern Resistance in World History" is a meticulously researched and deftly edited scholarly reference by A. Dirk Moses which provides a history of the genocides which have taken place around the world. Writings and commentaries are drawn from scholars, anthropologists, and historians who speak out at how the practices of genocide have turned many nations into mass murderers ranging from Adolph Hitler's Nazi Regime and Holocaust, to such lesser known but still world changing events such as Cambodia The Great Rebellion in the Southern Andes, and so many other tragedies. Offering historical insights into humanity's murderous follies and what causes such harsh actions of repression and attempted extinctions, "Empire, Colony, Genocide" is strongly recommended to community library history collections and any non-specialist general reader with a strong interest in world history.

College-level collections strong in Australian history and early exploration must have Encountering Terra Australis: The Australian Voyages of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders. It covers the achievements and encounters of these two navigators at the beginning of the 19th century, differing from competitors in examining the voyage of Baudin, rather than Flinders, to provide a different interpretation, reworking facts from the authors' own translation of Baudin's journals and original sources. The contrasting achievements of the two navigators thus receive more of an even analysis here, using both French and Australian sources to authenticate and correct historical facts.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This tome is authored by that prolific and dynamic duo, Professors Ross Grantham and Charles Rickett of the University of Auckland's Research Centre for Business Law, where I recently spent a very pleasant time as a visiting Research Fellow.

This is a truly remarkable work, providing as it does a compelling account of the law of restitution which provides coherence in its relationships with other areas of private law, reflects a consistent theoretical underpinning, and offers an organisation of the law which is not solely dependant on theory but which also reflects a contextual coherence. One important consequence of this reformulation is that the subject matter which falls properly within the ambit of the law of restitution is considerably less than is currently supposed.

Better than Birks, grittier than Goff & Jones. And a dashed good read too. As we say in Curacao, Bravo!

I have two copies of this book in paperback.
It is an outstanding story by one of the participants.
I call this event, Australia's Alamo.
The outcome was different but the results were the same.
Basically the small guy fighting for his rights against the big guy.
The fight for Freedom!
This is a must for all such libraries.

What I find surprising is that a story such as the one contained in this book has not yet beeen discovered by some Holliwood producer, since all the elements of a great film can be found here: love, adventure, character, local color; all in the amazing story of an astronomer by the name of Peter Darby, who discovers his self identity while doing research on Halley's Comet on its 1986 pass by Earth. This book also touches upon important issues of our time. To me this is truly a book of poetry in prose form. One of the best books I've read in quite a while.

Well this book follows a clean and simple formula by not being too technical, but just enough to make it a herbal boffins delight. From the colour photos to the historical overviews of the Maori people's use of the many plants reviewed, you get a sense of mastery of the subject matter the author has. There's some humour added for good measure when you read the results of using selected herbs. The illustrations are well presented and typical of good botanical reference guide books. Locally in N.Z. this book out performs above Culpepper ( who is too archaic and olde worlde) if you catch my drift. It also is better than "A Modern Herbal" by Mrs Grieve because this book delivers N.Z. specific plant usage history from people of the early Maoris to more recent elders of the surviving tribes. I liked it so much that it should have been my work! The best aspect of the book is the historical use and usage of the plants. So, from a research point of view it comes to the customer/reader with evidence based medicine, (herbally; that is). Finally, if you can get your hands on a copy of this manual as I call it, then take it to the test and eat out in the bush or coastland. It is a smaller parallel to "Plants and Health" by A.C.Sas ( which is a tome by comparison and not so transportable as a field guide when in the great outdoors, as we Kiwis would say). Bon Appetit dear readers.