History

On 28 November 1979 an Air New Zealand plane crashed into the lower slopes of Mount Erebus in broad daylight while on a sight-seeing trip to Antarctica, killing all 257 souls on board. This was New Zealand's greatest peacetime tragedy. Not only was the crash deeply shocking for o...ur small country (it is said that everyone knew of someone on board) but the legal and political aftermath wreaked its own trail of debris. The poor conduct of airline management in the months that followed the crash was described as 'a litany of lies' by a Royal Commission of Inquiry who found the airline at fault rather than the pilots. In the aftermath, the stories of the families involved were forgotten, until now. Sarah Myles has researched extensively into the recovery and identification process that brought her grandfather and so many others home. She weaves through this her family's traumatic experiences and her own memories of that time, discussing the legacy of grief and the possibility of hope.
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That September 2, 1939, the day of the Spanish exiles' splendid arrival in Chile, the Second World War broke out in Europe. Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life - and the fate of his country - forever change...d. Together with his sister-in-law, the pianist Roser Bruguera, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile. When opportunity to seek refuge in Chile arises, they take it, boarding a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda to the promised `long petal of sea and wine and snow' over the seas. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world. A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers.
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Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi is a reorua (bilingual) graphic novel that takes a fresh and innovative look at our founding treaty. The book reflects current scholarship and has been reviewed by some of Aotearoa's foremost Te Tiriti o Waitangi experts.

Gordon McLauchlan continues his bestselling Short History series with an in-depth look into the history of the farming industry in New Zealand.

The remarkable life of Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret who was also a Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation - and is a character in The Crown this autumn. Anne Glenconner reveals the real events behind The Crown as well as her own life of drama, tragedy and courage, with ...the wonderful wit and extraordinary resilience which define her.
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