New Zealand Books

Sir Edward Elgar is, arguably, England's greatest composer (remembering that Handel was actually a German living in England)but is scarcely given his place among the greats. This well-written, quite readable biography is recommended to spark interest in this great figure and inspire those unfamiliar with his music to explore its richness.

The Pacific islands sure look different when viewed from Down Under than they do from up here in Hawaii. That makes "The Pacific Islands" a valuable effort both absolutely and relatively.
Absolutely, because it offers a coherent overview of the Pacific islands, of which there have been several over the years, but none quite like this. Douglas Oliver's two-volume "Oceania," published nearly two decades ago and based on a book he first published in 1942, can be regarded as an extended essay on the Pacific.
Brij Lal and Kate Fortune's "The Pacific Islands," if read through, has somewhat the same feel -- less elegantly put than Oliver's, because it is organized by topics -- but updated by several years, in which much has changed.
Though Hawaii's status in the Pacific is paramount in economics, culture and modernity, it occupies a relatively small portion of this encyclopedia.
There could be two reasons for this, both sensible.
One, unlike the small nations of the Pacific, just about anything you want to know about Hawaii (including a great deal that isn't so) is already available, so it makes sense to devote relatively more space to the lesser known areas.
Two, Lal and Fortune are scholars at the Australian National University, and their encyclopedia was financed by Australian foreign aid, so it follows that the South Pacific gets more attention. Micronesia is also skimped, relatively.
Scarcely one earthling in a thousand is a Pacific islander, and most of them are poor, isolated and, by any likely evolution of the world economy, foredoomed to remain so.
In an economic discussion, contributor John Overton writes "the prospects of successful competition by Pacific commodities on open world markets are poor indeed."
Similar instances of such beady-eyed caution are uncommon. The tone of "The Pacific Islands" is upbeat.
Too upbeat in the case of Fiji's fraught constitutional troubles. (Lal was personally involved in trying to sort these out. When this book was written, her optimism was not hopeless. Things have deteriorated.)
In fact, sometimes the articles have more the character of sermons than of reference reports. The outstanding example is the article on "Higher education for Pacific islanders" by 'I Futa Helu, a revered figure in Pacific islander education.
Throughout, one gets a close feel for how compressed the modern story of the islands is. The first colony to gain independence, Samoa, did so as recently as 1962. In places like Solomon Islands, modern institutions of various sorts did not arrive until the 1970s, '80s or even '90s.
It is a testimony to the strong cultural and kinship values of Pacific islanders -- a recurrent theme of Lal and Fortune's -- that the various communities have held up as well as they have. Seldom have so few had to put up with so much in such a short time.
The importance of organized sport also comes as something of a surprise. Here in Hawaii, we tend to receive more news of culture, one way or another, from the small island states. In this encyclopedia, sports receives nearly as much space. The "Hong Kong Sevens" (an islander variant of rugby) are a major event down south. Few in Hawaii, except immigrants, have ever heard of the sport.
That the book was written from an antipodean perspective shows up in occasionally amusing phrasing: National Football League games are called "matches," for example.
But there is also plenty of input from Hawaii. This is most noticeable on a particularly touchy subject, the constitutional history of Palau, which is related in three places. One article, by the well-known ax-grinder Stewart Firth, manages to be misleading by selective presentation without making statements that are factually incorrect. The same subject treated by Robert Kiste of the University of Hawaii is more balanced. The brief statement in the nation profile (by Kiste and Fortune) is so bland that the sizzle of this topic would be missed by the unprepared reader.
Another example of how perspective affects perception comes in the profile of Hawaii. The principal export earners for the state are listed as tourism, fishing, sugar and pineapple.
This was just reflex. Fishing is the principal -- in several cases, the only -- meaningful export of several of the two dozen or so island states. But it is trivial in Hawaii and will become even more trivial now that the best grounds, in the Northwestern Islands, are being put off limits, a new development since this book was published.
The Hawaii State Data Book is not helpful on fish exports, but total catch in state waters is valued at only a little over $50 million a year. Hawaii is a net seafood importer.
The encyclopedia comes with a CD-ROM which is searchable and has more maps than the printed text. It is supposed to be compatible with both Macs and PCs. It worked fine on a Mac, not at all on a PC with the same (Adobe) software.

The book is the best bible you can find to inform you of the designs and meanings of the Maori culture. This is by far the best book we have in our Maori collection. This would be great for anyone wishing to learn ta moko or for many other forms of Pacific art culture. For many years this book has not been available. This may happen again. Get them while you can.
Ka kite & Good luck on your journey,
NZT Designs

The concluding volume of distinguished New Zealand historian James Belich's general history of New Zealand is an engaging, tightly bound look at the 20th century. It certainly lives up to the expectations generated by the first academic history of the country by a single author since Keith Sinclair's work of the 1960s.
Belich writes with an engaging style, mixing humour and deft usage of example with the broad brushstroke of well formed arguments. Dividing the period into three large bites (1880s-1920s, 1920s to 1960s and 1960s to today), the first part of each 'bite' provides a chronological mix of primarily political and economic analysis. This useful framework informs the less-chronologically restricted second part of the section, dealing with social history. The format works very well, allowing a logical structure where the histories of government, popular culture, racial issues, economics and social structure sit neatly together without jumping back and forth as in a conventional narrative.
Of particular delight for me are the 'revisionist' reexaminations of a number of events, emphasising and casting them in a new light. Examples include the 1913 labour crisis and a very good look at the 'Protein' industry which places it in its political, economic and social context superbly.
The two core arguments are those of Recolonialism and The Great Tightening, tying our history to our relationship with Britain, and the populist quest for conformity and harmony. The points are both deftly argued, with every theme being tied to them, usually quite convincingly. As with any argument seeking to provide coherance, however, at times there is a danger that other causes and effects can be understated and ignored. One instance of this was in dealing with the dour 'safeness' of the early postwar era. Belich quotes Jame Mander; [New Zealand was] "afflicted with the 'awful disease' of puritanism and conformism - 'barren wastes of Victorian philistinasm', 'brain-numbing, stimulus-stifling, soul-searing silence'". Although this is convincingly linked with the concept of 'tightening', another important factor, that of the search for security and safety in the aftermath of World War II is scarcely touched upon.
Belich's broadsweeping approach also uncovers the many holes in New Zealand historiography, however his guesswork in these areas, for instance in sport, is usually convincing and far more informative and thought provoking than ignoring them completely!
The first chapter/s of each chronological chunk give a fair overview of the narrative of that era, particulaly polically and economically, however the book is not a survey in the American sense. I feel that there is a need for such a work in New Zealand history, combining narrative with academic insight in the style of Henretta et al's excellent "America's History", (perhaps the NZ market is too small?). That said, anyone with a passion for history, or studying New Zealand history in particular will be very well served and stimulated by "Paradise Reforged"'s superb arguments and bibliography to explore our history in further depth. Can't wait to see Mr Belich's next project, perhaps a TV adaptation in the Simon Schama mode?!!!

New Zealand has produced a disproportionately high number of the world's most successful romance writers. In this collection of 15 interviews, writers such as Daphne Claire, Robyn Donald, Susan Napier, and the late Essie Summers talk openly about their personal lives as well as their careers, telling us how they have become published authors and what they think their writing means to others as well as to themselves.

"Reliable - Enjoyable - User-friendly

10th Edition

Like the great New Zealand wines he writes about, Vic Williams just gets better and better.

The Penguin Good New Zealand Wine Guide for 2001-2002 is better than ever, crammed with completely new tastings and ratings for hundreds of wines. Red, white, rose, dessert and sparkling wines are all listed by variety. And keep your eye out for the famous little penguin awarded to the outstanding wine in each category.

*At-a-glance ratings
*Up-to-date wine show awards
*2001 vintage review
*Wine and food combinations
*Cellaring times
*Recommended retail prices
*Glossary"

This review refers to the hardcover edition. I read this book shortly after "Passion is a Fashion: The Real Story of the Clash" By P. Gilbert. See my review for that item. Both books are at the same excellent high standard - informative, detailed, captivating and well-researched.

This book traces the development of the Brisbane (Australia) music scene from the early 70s to late 90s. Detailed histories and interviews are provided with founders of Triple Zed radio station, Saints, Leftovers, Powderfinger, Regurgitator and Savage Garden. Being a punk fan, it's the review of the punk bands that interest me most.

The Saints' early years are discussed, leading up to their three recorded albums and their successful 1977 UK tour. It is interesting to read how the right-wing Bjelke-Petersen Queensland Government created an environment of fear, suscipicion and paranoia. Indirectly, this gave The Saints a reason for being - they could address political themes in their lyrics - and put them ideologically on a par with contemporary UK acts such as The Pistols and The Clash. The author is able to explain The Saints' music extremely well and clearly link it into the broader social and political context of 1970s Queensland.

We understand (after reading this book) why 1970s southern states bands such as ACDC, Cold Chisel and The Angels wrote about typical rock and roll subjects while Queensland bands such as The Saints and Leftovers took on political issues in the manner of their UK contemporaries. The book helps us to see how this was not just a quirk of fate, but that a different political climate in Queensland led to more politicised music there.

I also enjoyed reading about 70s cult act The Leftovers, clearly at the extreme, lunatic end of the punk spectrum. It appears they were anarchistic punks in the mould of The Pistols. The discussion of the history, life and times of The Leftovers is highly entertaining. History seems to have erased them from the memories of most modern music fans outside Queensland but it's interesting to learn of their history and influence.

Overall the book is extremely well researched. The way the author places paragraphs of quotes (usually 4-8 lines long and indented) from key scene identities in at appropriate places of the text narrative is effective. Generally it addes to rather than disrupts the reading experience. Over 100 people were interviewed for the book (see appendix at back) - a huge feat which clearly shows the effort, planning and dedication that went into the creation of this story.

I strongly recommend this book. And I would love to be able to obtain a CD version of The Leftovers' original recordings (2 A sides and 2 B sides).

This book is rich with detail. The author goes beyond the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty and tells us what happens next, from the late 1700s to the present day. This is a fascinating account of the lives of the people who inhabit and visit Pitcairn Island.

"Playlunch: Five Short New Zealand Plays," edited by Christine Prentice and Lisa Warrington, brings together pieces that were commissioned for the Lunchtime Theatre series at New Zealand's Otago University. All of these plays were first performed between 1991 and 1994 at the university's Allen Hall Theatre. The plays are as follows:

"The Private War of Corporal Cooper," by John Broughton: about the wartime correspondence between a soldier and a nun. "The Rosenberg Sisters," by Michaelanne Forster: about a pair of elderly Jewish sisters in New Zealand who remember when, with their third sister, they had been a World War II-era singing group. "An Illustrated Death of Eddie Fivetrees," by Simon O'Connor: about the relationship between a girl and her eccentric neighbor. "Tiggy Tiggy Touch Wood," by Renee: opens with a strange exchange between Missy and the childlike Tiggy; as the play progresses, their shocking, painful backstory is revealed. And finally, "Chook Chook," by Fiona Farrell: four actors portray hens in a large chicken coop.

This is a very diverse group of plays that ranges from the comic to the tragic, from the surreal and allegorical to the realistic. "Playlunch" is a superb celebration of both New Zealander creativity and the short play genre; I would recommend this book for college courses, for reading groups, or just for individual reading.

This book is a comprehensive survey of the social problems that face indigenous artists in Pacific. Focusing on Australia, the book also extends its discussion to New Zealand, other islands of the Pacific, and Canada. It also provides exposure to artworks that are often marginalized by contemporary art historical discourse.