History

What draws us to the night sky and how can we make sense of all that lies there?In this unique synthesis of science and culture, former astrophysicist and writer Joanne Baker charts the global history of humanity's relationship with the cosmos....

Agent Zo tells the incredible true story of Elzbieta Zawacka, the WW2 resistance fighter known as 'Zo'. The only woman to reach London from Warsaw during the Second World War as an emissary of the Polish Home Army...

 'The Hollows Boys' is the story of the helicopter deer recovery era in Fiordland, told through the lives of three brothers, Gary, Mark and Kim Hollows. There is the usual dare-devil 'boy's own adventure' side of the story....

On 8 November 1942, British and American troops invaded French North Africa as part of Operation Torch, the largest amphibious operation of the war to date. The Germans responded by flooding troops into Tunisia and the stage was...

The relationship between takata and whenua-people and land-is a long thread that weaves through the art history of Aotearoa New Zealand.Beginning in Te Waipounamu, our greenstone isle, and reaching outwards, across Aotearoa and beyond to Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the...

During Pamela Churchill Harriman's life and even after her death, in 1997, her glamorous social life and infamous erotic adventures overshadowed her true accomplishments. She was one of the most powerful women of the 20th century and there...

For most New Zealanders, Manapouri is associated with the country's largest and most successful environmental protest, but there is another, less well-known narrative of this time. The struggle to drill a tailrace tunnel under a rocky mountain at...

This is an easy-to-digest history of Central Otago, New Zealand presented in bite-sized chunks. Through the pages of this book, you'll be guided through many of the key events that have shaped our nation.

To me, hard times are like hide-and-seek: where is the solution, where is the hope? We can never give up looking for these things because they are just waiting to be found.”Gidon Lev, an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor, has...

Winner of the Orwell Prize 2024: the exhilarating story of the greatest border breach in Cold War history A gripping reconstruction of the daring escape to freedom of hundreds of East Germans in the summer of 1989 and...

The history of the Middle Ages is typically the story of the rich and powerful, but archaeology represents another way of interrogating our history. By using cutting-edge science to examine human remains and burials, it is possible to...

Michael Palin recreates the extraordinary life and tragic death of a First World War soldier - his great-uncle Harry.  From the time, many years ago, when Michael Palin first heard that his grandfather had a brother, Harry, he...

A gripping true crime investigation into the murder of the relatives of Albert Einstein, set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Florence during WWII Italy, August 1944. A unit of German soldiers arrives at a villa near Florence. Villa...

Description: In 38 Londres Street, Philippe Sands blends personal memoir, historical detective work and gripping courtroom drama to probe a secret double story of mass murder, one that reveals a shocking thread that links the horrors of the 1940s with...

Nothing can prepare a man for the horrors of war, nor the haunting memories that linger long after the battle is over. In The Impossible Survivor, Jeff Steel invites readers into the life of Neil Lindsay, a retired...

The New Zealand Wars of 1845-72 were a series of bitter and bloody conflicts between Maori and Pakeha that extended from Wairau to the Bay of Islands, and from Taranaki to the East Cape. They are as important...

Naturalist's Guide to the Fungi of Aotearoa New Zealand is an easy-to-use introductory identification guide to 267 species of New Zealand's fungi, described at species or genuslevel; perfect for residents and visitors alike.High quality photographs are accompanied by...

A loving memoir set in small-town New Zealand ‘If I’d been asked to vote on it I would’ve said I’d landed at the centre of the universe. Standing on our corner of Sylvan Road and Victoria Street, with...

An accessible guide to significant places and people of the New Zealand Wars from a Māori perspective. This comprehensive guidebook journeys through the pivotal sites of the New Zealand Wars, from the Far North to the top of...

A fresh and fascinating new history of ancient Mesopotamia and the birth of history. Thousands of years ago, in a part of the world we now call ancient Mesopotamia, people began writing things down for the very first...

Maori Soldiers signing up for the First World War representing a formidable fighting force - Te Hokiwhitu a Tu, or the Seventy twice-told warriors of the war god, Tumatauenga. Prejudice kept the Maori Pioneer Battalion well back from...

‘The story of The Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi is one of the greatest in New Zealand history. It marks the moment British and Māori history intersected and a new nation was formed.’ In The Treaty of...

A ground-breaking examination of the societal impact of fear that gives us a thrilling insight on world history 'Extraordinary' Ai Weiwei 'Brilliant' Simon Schama Fear has long been a driving force - perhaps the driving force - of...

Kim Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet mole in history. Agent, double agent, charmer and traitor, he betrayed every secret of Allied operations to the Russians in the early years of the Cold War. In...