New Zealand Books

My wife and I drive our vacations, taking in the sights in foreign lands. Driving in New Zealand is a challenge no matter what, and doing so with a marginal map adds problems. Vistas can be breathtaking, but the roads wind and snake incessantly, and in the NZ countryside (most of the country) you are well served to take little detours to see more of the country's charms. This map is good and was about the best I could find online. It gave a leg up in planning my journey at home.

My Aussie friends, who we met and traveled with, showed up with a spiral-bound map. Despite its heft, the detail on his put this one to shame. In fact, in the two weeks we drove the country, I was ever thankful he had his detailed map, as it saved us lots of time by putting drives in proper perspective, aiming us in the right direction, and showing subtleties that my map lacked. Further, my map did not do justice to the driving pace you are faced with throughout the country. Looking at this map, you have no appreciation for the extra time needed to wend your way past successive eye-popping vistas on that winding road through the mountains. Where that 200 km drive looks like you can do it in 2+ hours, in fact you are fortunate to do it in 5. This map fails in that, whereas a larger map provides better insight. While it provided a reasonable perspective in the planning stages, the spiral-bound map proved its value once we hit the road, and in NZ is by far the way to go. Now if I can only remember who manufactured it...

This map shows New Zealand as a whole with a few little inset maps of the larger towns and cities but it doesn't give any great detail for anything but the main roads.

I travel internationally a few times a year and do my own travel plan of such areas. So far,this map is the most detailed for land/car travel that I've used.

I really liked this book - it's about two men who rob a house one night and it changes their lives forever. Duff is a great writer. Incidentally 'Errol' who wrote the review above this is actually talking about another Duff book called 'What Becomes of the Broken Hearted' (it's the sequel to 'Once Were Warriors' - it's really good - don't be put off by the cheesy title or the fact that it's a sequel) - I guess Errol got the titles mixed up - because 'One Night Out Stealing' is NOT the sequel to 'Once Were Warriors'.

In case you didn't read what I said about Alan Duff's previous book "Once Were Warriors", I shall point out again that I am not an Alan Duff fan, not by half!
This new book was a far better read than "Once Were Warriors". Sadly though it was also transparently obvious that "One Night Out Stealing" was written with the movie sequel in mind. Thus Jake is redeemed, he is proven to be innocent of the rape of his daughter and the rape is vaguely attributed to Uncle Bully to fit the movie.
There is also another of those charming deliberate factual errors of which Mr Duff is so fond; although this one is far less important than getting the Maori Land Wars and the Treaty of Waitangi `round the wrong way (many NZers at rec.sport.rugby might dispute that).
It's a subtle error this one. In a conversation with the (unrealistically English-squire-like) Mr Trambert, Jake discusses the drop kick by Zinzan Brook in the 1995 World Cup final against south Africa - but the goal was actually against the English in the semi. The irony being that the English kicking game had disposed of the Aussies in the quarter by a drop goal you see.
Well spotted huh? Do I win a prize for spotting these Mr Duff?

From the author of "Once Were Warriors" comes another gritty tale set in New Zealand's underclass. This book focuses exclusively on two thieves Jube (white), and Sonny (half-Maori) who also share an apartment. Their miserable existence sitting around a nasty bar full of ex-cons is rendered in full detail as they drink through the weekly welfare check. Jube is a insecure loudmouth of the kind that likes to drive his muscle car real fast and brag about everything. Sonny is more of a thinker and feels trapped and out of place. One night they rob a fancy house and score big, changing both their lives. It's a pretty nasty read, and gets a little tiresome at times as the duo move through a familiar cycle of hopelessness. Duff strings the two men's conversation together into single blocks so that who's saying what is a little confusing at times. Reminiscent in some ways of the Australian film "Romper Stomper."

I have read this book to my children literally 100's of times. It is especially exciting for younger children who have yet to experience the firsthand thrill of riding a roller coaster. Joy Cowley does a wonderful job of presenting the perspective of a young, first-time roller coaster rider. David Cox does a fine job with his creative artwork.

I was a bit taken aback by the poster who suggests the book may be in some way offensive due to the usage of the words "Freak" and "Freaking", As I write this post I have a copy of The Screaming Mean Machine in front of me. The word "Freaking" is not use in this book. The word "Freak" is use 4 times in what I consider to be appropriate context. The word "Freak" seems to be a term used by the author to convey the obvious emotion, apprehension, and excitement shown by the main character.

This book is targeted towards young children, it is an early reader book. As a mother of 2 young children, I found it very offensive. The author uses the word "freak" and "freaking" several times in the book. As I grew up, this word was a substitute for a word that is certainly NOT appropriate for children, never mind preschoolers who like to repeat every new word they hear. I would certainly NOT recommend this book to anyone.

This is a wonderful book for K-4th grade students. It is an excellent example of a personal narrative and is therefore good to read aloud to children when teaching writing. It is filled with descriptive words, sensory details, and similes. The young girl riding The Screaming Mean Machine (roller coaster) is filled with anticipation, fear, and excitement. You feel as though you are with her on this ride. Youngsters are enthralled as they go along on this journey.

There are tourists and there are travelers. Both visit other lands, but tourists make no attempt to learn about the people and culture, preferring to view everything from their own perspective. Travelers try to learn as much as possible about the places they visit and appreciate the cultural differences. In "Sunday Islands: New Zealand, Tahiti, Australia," Harold Truman shows that he is a traveler as he offers his impressions of the South Pacific gleaned during visits to the region from 1994 to 2000. Truman is not the stereotypical "ugly American" on his journeys. He never loses the awareness that he is a guest in other people's homeland and is careful to show respect for their customs - even if those customs are totally foreign to Americans. He also shows his sense of humor in recounting his own misadventures, such as his first attempt to use an outrigger canoe and learns it's not as simple as it appears. Even when playing the tourist, Truman remains the traveler. Most tourists going out on a fishing excursion would concentrate on landing a big one, but Truman gets to know the boat's captain, learning more about the country and its people in a few hours of conversation than anyone could learn from reading thousands of travel brochures. Throughout his journeys, Truman demonstrates a keen sense of observation of people and places. Thanks to his narrative, which flows like poetry, and his descriptions of people and places, we are more than readers of his travel journal, we are his friends accompanying him on his journey.

There are two ways I can describe this book: as an assigned essay on "How I Spent My Vacation," in which it might receive a passing grade in High School; or as a visit by your brother-in-law, the one you never really liked but tolerated for your sister's sake, who shares his superficial ideas as if they were deep insights. I suppose there are people who will voluntarily submit to either, but I'm not one of them. The author (he can only be called a writer in the most literal sense) has no insight to speak of, is manifestly incompetent at background research, and lacks any useful power of description. He really should look up the meanings of words like "masquerade" and "circumvent" before he uses them. . . The real mystery is how something like this ever gets published.

Truman uses words like an artist uses paint to create a colorful masterpiece. He not only gives the reader a deep understanding of Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti's multi-tiered eco-system, but he also captures the souls of the people who call the Islands their home. It's an exotic mix filled with historical and geographical background. "Sunday Islands" is also very, very funny! This is must reading for anyone who's been or plan on visiting these southwest Pacific locales, and if the reader doesn't have an urge to travel, "Sunday Islands" will transport them to the lush Pacific locations he so eloquently describes. One can only hope Truman will write a second edition with illustrations to accompany his vivid description of life "down under".

The firebases and their desciptions deal primarily of the areas in the FRAC area of operations. But there is no mention of some of the firebases employed in the south DRAC, some of these bases were unusual that they were entirely waterborne and supported riverine operations of the minth inf div.

A very good first research book on FSB's with lots of very good pics. It has most of the basics and can be used to write with authority on the subject.

I wish it had covered more FSB, as I was station in I Corps in 68-69 and was basicly a mountain terrain vs. IV Corps where it was the delta (water), yet it covered the subject as completely as the book would allow.

Vietnam historians and VN vets should purchase this book.

NAM VET

Randy E.M. Foster's VIETNAM FIREBASES 1965-73: AMERICAN AND AUSTRALIAN FORCES considers artillery fire support bases of the Freeworld forces, surveying their use as troop shelters and command centers, their defense, and their key strategic role during the war. Serious military libraries will want all these histories.

Frank Welsh has written an extremely well written, witty, scholarly, balanced and very long work on the history of Australia. The footnotes are excellent for further research and with the bibliography are almost one hundred pages long! The illustrations are ok, and the maps are useful but could have been somewhat better; many of the places mentioned do not appear.

Th author's balance of view deserves praise. Although I might describe myself as a "Battler" and Welsh I suspect is a "Chardonnay Socialist" the coverage of contemporary issues is fairly presented.

Welsh rejects the "PC" approach in covering relations with the Aborigenes; the mis-treatment of whom while unconscionable has been over-emphasized... "It should be recorded, remembered, regretted, and accorded only their proper place." The author rejects historical post-modernism, and supports the Windschuttle school of historical accuracy in dealing with the Aborigenes. The approach to settlement is less histrionic than that of Hughes, particularly on Irish political prisoners.

The weakest part of the book is a lengthy description of the process be which "representative" and then "responsible" governments were established; almost one hundred tedious pages as each of the six states are dealt with. This is more than balanced by descriptions of the Melbourne-Sydney rivalries and how regionalism led to a chaotic train system of three different gauges.

The strongest parts of the book are those that deal with economic issues; the economic problems that Australia faced in the 1880's are similar to the crisis America has to deal with today. Particularly usefull was the discussion of post World War 2 Australia; handicapped by inept leaders and manipulative allies it faced problems in Indonesia and New Guinea. (Yet Welsh shows less sympathy for the Caribbean problems of America) The issues in contemporary Australia such as the Liberal Party moving to the right, reversing the economic welfare state and of Labor and immigration issues are well covered.

Mr Welsh is at his weakest when he makes references to America; for example the New York riots of July 1863 were Draft Riots, and although having a strong racial undercurrent, were not a response to the 10 month
earlier Emancipation Proclamation as he asserts.

This is a must read for anyone interested in the [political and economic history of Australia.

This book is far too detailed (too much information) with facts not needed by a non-historian reader. It is very hard to read and boring. I donated it to the local library after struggling through 100 pages.

Welcome to New Zealand!
Fodor's has offered some good travel books however they aren't my favourite, but considering price vs information offered it's not too bad. The book is just under 300 pages so it fits easily into your bag though honestly it doesn't offer nearly as much information on things to see and do etc as other travel guides. I lived in New Zealand for some time and I bought this book before moving to Aotearoa (Maori word for New Zealand) to get some useful information about the country and things it offered. I thought the book was very informative about the various regions covering the North and South Islands as well as offering photos as a visual appeal. The info is all very accurate when it comes to historical information as well as sights that the average tourist or even kiwi shouldn't miss when traveling. The book is broken into regions like other books and offers some info on the major cities like Queenstown, Christchurch, Dunedin, Auckland, Wellington etc. and what they all have to offer. I would recommend this book as supplement to another travel book, though you can certainly get by with just this book, I did. It also helped that tourist/info centers are everywhere in the major cities and travel destinations and they offer maps info packets etc. Overall good book, affordable, gives useful info and can be used alone but I would recommend another travel guide of some kind. DK I found was very good and offered a bit more info, though honestly its better to just go and experience things and see what locals have to say because most of the time travel guides offer only so much and you'll find that you experience and enjoy a bit more of what the country has to offer when you do what the locals do and go off the beaten track so to speak. After living in Wellington I found that there was a lot of things I felt the book couldve covered or included but didnt. I suppose complaint would be that it has very limited amount of info which you could probably find in other books. Like I recommend going down to Courtney St. which is near Te Papa Museum and exploring the restaurants and clubs, it has a very good nightlife there, really when you travel you just have to find things out for yourself because the only people who really know where to go what to see and do are those living there, most travel books can't tell you all that because most weren't written by someone who lives there. The book does do a good job of giving a brief overview of Aotearoa or New Zealand's history, geography including flora and fauna, and culture of the Maori.

I bought this book since it seemed a comfortable size for traveling as compared with Lonely Planet. I think it had very little info however, and found that the free guides given by New Zealand Tourism were equally if not more useful. Wouldn't recommend it.

It is interesting how this book reads in the post "Sorry" environment.

The election of the Rudd government has shown how Stuart MacIntyre's book is a fairly reasoned account of the nature of both the History Wars, and the Black Arm Band debate, as seen through the eyes of two historical heavyweights, Manning Clark and Geoffrey Blainey, both of whom are portrayed in a balanced and sympathetic fashion.

McIntryre's conclusion that the History Wars have led to the fact that the study of history has fallen into itas lowest ebb is hard to refute, although another explanation may be the fact that academic studies are supposed to have a narrow economic benefit.

Australia is experiencing an outbreak of History Wars. Over the last couple of decades it has become increasingly difficult to write history outside of a particular left/progressive mould without attracting abuse. This has produced a reaction from some challengers, such as Keith Windschuttle and others, who have called the progressives for serious bias or even outright falsification in their historical accounts.

Stuart Macintyre is an outstandingly progressive historian who joined the Communist Party in the 1960s. He is also one of the most senior and influential academic historians in Australia so his example, for better or worse, is likely to exert a profound influence in the profession.

In the first part of this book he explains that history is a discipline, a branch of knowledge that is governed by rules of evidence, so that historians create history but they are not free to invent or falsify it. Honesty and professional standards matter. He wrote that adherence to such standards is one of the issues at stake in the History Wars. (p 29-30)

This position on professionalism and the importance of respect for the truth is apparently spelled out to rebuke the conservative and revisionist History Warriors.

They obey only Rafferty's rules. They caricature their opponents and impugn their motives. They appeal to loyalty, hope, fear and prejudice. In their intimidation of the history profession, they act as bullies. In submitting history to the loyalty test, they debase it. Australians deserve more from their history than the History Wars.(p 222)

After the introductory chapters on the evolution of the profession in Australia and the craft of the trade there are some case histories of the "wars",some episodes when leading historians were under fire for outspoken public statements, the battle for control of the agenda for the Bicentenary celebrations, disputes over the extent of violence on the frontier during settlement of the continent, allegations of bias in the National Museum, and a chapter on the response by Prime Minister Howard and his colleagues to the historians who adopt an apologetic attitude to our history. Here Macintyre joins the contest in opposition to the so-called History Warriors and it is apparent that his partisan stance has damaged his respect for the facts. For example, Pauline Hanson, a populist politician who enjoyed a short season of success, did not condemn assistance to Aboriginals as claimed in this book (p 139), in fact she echoed the call from Martin Luther King for rewards or welfare on the basis of merit or need, not skin colour.

People who are closer to the action may know whether Stuart Macintyre, in his effort to depict himself as a fair dealing elder statesman, has failed in a genuine effort to transcend his own history, or whether he has adopted a pose. Presumable time will tell. In the meantime we can hope that his colleagues will follow his precepts rather than his practice. He has demanded high standards of honesty, civility and professionalism, so it will be an interesting exercise to judge his performance, and that of his progressive colleagues, by his own standards.

After looking through Jean Foleys book I can see how difficult it can be to see what one has experienced as part of one's life when it is viewed by someone else, as they necessarily can only give limited attention in the broad examination this book gives to the subject.

The book is a useful insight into part of the history and as such it omits most of the human side of the place, BUT, as someone who spent the first 23 years of life in Quarantine Stations in Australia (Brisbane, Darwin and North Head), its difficult for me is accept that so much of what one witnessed and experienced first hand in such places has been lost, not written about, ignored and or just plain destroyed.

It irks me that so much of the carvings made by 19th and 20th century Quarantine immates at North Head, outside the current Q-station site, are now being degraded and or lost forever by possible neglect. The numerous sites which were previously so carefully looked after by dedicated Commonwealth Quarantine Staff for decades are now without evident protection.

If one would like to hear something of the forgotten people who did so much to maintain this unique site, including the now Q-Station location, as well as the adjoining areas of the former Quarantine Station now controlled by NSW Parks and Wildlife, one should consult the article in the 1975 Commonwealth Deparment of Health Journal 'Health', Volume 25, pages 31-37, "Quarantine: counting the costs".

Fortunately, for me I can recollect what few others know about eg how difficult some immates were about their 14 day stay in Quarantine and the management demands of Head Office and Canberra - how many times one went looking for people who had placed themselves in danger around the cliff faces at North Head, the time spent running the steam laundry so that other staff could keep the place fully functional, the number of phone calls one answered at our family staff house when I was studying for University exams, and yes the times when the station was under full emergency mode with closed gates and no contact with the outside world (except for those of use who lived at the gatehouse S7).

Most of all I have fond memories of the village atmosphere of all the fellow staff members and their families, warts and all. The greatest thrills I had were of looking at all the antiquated tools, machines, steam boilers and the engines which were left over from another age.

Fortunately my father (Herbert Lavaring BEM, 1917-98)as Officer in Charge of the Station (1963-75) spent a lot of time and effort to save these and other items of historical interest - some have survived the passage of time and are now to be found in the National Museum in Canberra and the National Archives at Chester Hill in Sydney.

Unfortunately, Jean Foley has few accounts of the experiences of the staff and their families who had the opportunity of living in this museum of human history when it was fully functional. Luckily I am one who can say "I lived there!" and in similar places which have since been destroyed through 'progress' or outright neglect. I hope whats left at North Head is properly preserved, particularly the rock carvings outside the Q-station site.

Those were interesting times, even if it was when one was much younger.

Dr Ian Lavering BSc, PhD, MBA, MAHons, GDMgmt, GDAdmin, GCREcol
Quarantine Station Lytton Brisbane 1952-58,
Quarantine Station Darwin 1959-62, and
Quarantine Station North Head 1963-75.

In writing the first definitive history of the Quarantine Station in Sydney's North Head, Foley has gone to impressive lengths to track down seemingly every historical record, reference and recount related to the Station's 160-year history and weave them together into an engaging read. Written chronologically and structured according to the Station's varying management and function - the events, diseases, people and (often poor) decisions that affected the development of the Station are conveyed succinctly and articulately. From the Station's hasty beginnings in relative isolation from the emerging British colony in 1837, to bungled attempts to contain smallpox in 1881, through to the bubonic plague and pneumonic influenza in the early 1900s, the book charts the development of not only the Station, but developments in medical knowledge in the prevention and treatment of infectious disease. The Station is also portrayed as an immigration facility as well as a health concern, documenting the disillusionment felt by many a once hopeful immigrant arriving at what was for many their first and last contact with Australia. Concluding shortly after the Station's closure and inclusion in a national park in 1984, the book remains very well-researched and factual, and therefore does not wander into the paranormal realms that most 'ghost tour' visitors to the Station today may associate with it.

The fun thing about a book like this is that it presents the type of books real people actually own! Chris de Hamel wrote elsewhere that you can still buy a real medieval page for a very reasonable price. It would be a page like what's in this book rather than something in the Tres Riches Heures. Most manuscripts were pretty and attainable by moderately wealthy middle-class people, not necessarily the Duke of Berry! For people that collect fragments, or maybe get a nice music page for Christmas, this is the type of book that can orient you better than the greatest treasures of the greatest collections. These volumes travelled far to get all the way to New Zealand, and there are a couple of good masterpieces, notably the Wharncliff Hours and the Eastern French Missal. But most of the items are good, solid, decent, but not wildly important manuscripts.

This modestly-sized book is primarily concerned with listing the location of all medieval manuscripts and manuscript fragments in New Zealand. Now, that seems pretty obvious, based on the title, but you have no idea how literal the title is until you peruse this book.

Some of the better items are pictured in the section of the book devoted to plates. There are a fair number of both black and white and color reproductions. Otherwise, the book is mostly one huge list of title and provenance for New Zealand manuscripts. While the provenance items often contain some interesting tidbits about manuscript history, there is not really enough to make the book truly informative and useful for someone not living in New Zealand and looking for a list of manuscripts to request access for study.

I thought, based on the title, that this would be an exhibition catalogue of some sort, but it is not, not really. It's just not in the same league as Weick's Painted Prayers and other works of that ilk. Nor is the text informative enough to put this book at the same level as, say, de Hamel's A History of Illuminated Manuscripts.

That said, the book does have some good qualities. Again, there are a number of interesting tidbits contained in the various lists, and a number of the plates are artistically interesting. I would not suggest that someone looking for a coffee table book select this volume, but it is an acceptable addition to the collection if you collect books about illuminated manuscripts.