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What's New McNab

The latest in the New Zealand collection.

Building the Roxburgh Dam : the Early Story of Electricity Supply in Roxburgh Cherise McGrogan

Image by: Malcolm Deans

The ‘Roxburgh Hydro’, opened in 1956, was the first of the big hydroelectric power stations built in the lower South Island in the post-War era. The fascinating story of how it was designed and constructed is told in detail in this independently published work by Cherise McGrogan. The book includes a couple of first-hand reminiscences of hydro workers at the end offering a great insight into what life was like working on such a massive project.

The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: a True Story of Sex, Crime and the Meaning of Justice Julia Laite

Image by: Malcolm Deans

Canadian author Julia Laite is senior lecturer in history at London’s Birkbeck University and an expert in the history of prostitution. She came across the story of a New Zealand woman, Lydia Harvey, when reading court transcripts of a London sex trafficking case and was intrigued by her character, setting her off on a long detective mission. Harvey, a photographer’s assistant from Wellington, was trafficked to London via Argentina in 1910. Laite has painstakingly reconstructed the story of her life from the very slim documentary evidence available, putting a complex human face on the stock characters often used to tell these stories. The book also reflects on the politics of this kind of historical reconstruction and how the lives of the neglected and voiceless, who often leave very little trace behind, can be meaningfully recovered.

Every Home Should Have One: the Appliance Age in New Zealand Terry Moyle

Image by: Malcolm Deans

New Zealand used to have a thriving manufacturing industry, making electrical appliances of all forms, including here in Dunedin with the likes of Shacklock and Bonaire. Sadly, this industry is now mostly gone, a victim of the elimination of tariffs by the fourth Labour Government, but Terry Moyle has lovingly documented its companies and products from the very first Shacklock ranges and Hotpoint electric irons of the Edwardian age onwards.

Hellzapoppin’!: the Art of Flying Nun Peter Vangioni et al.

Image by: Malcolm Deans

Hellzapoppin’! was produced to accompany the Christchurch Art Gallery exhibition of the same name that featured art produced by, and for, bands on the Flying Nun label in the 80s and early 90s. The exhibition, curated by Peter Vangioni, featured original artwork done for LPs and singles, posters, videos and more. This catalogue features the personal reflections of many of the contributors to the exhibition on the extraordinary creative ferment of this period.

The Hundred Years’ War Jamie Wall

Image by: Malcolm Deans

The legendary rivalry between the All Blacks and the Springboks is the subject of Jamie Wall’s The Hundred Years’ War. It is a gripping story of intense competition but also the story of how this sporting relationship was disfigured by the grotesque South African apartheid regime and the ways the New Zealand Rugby Union accommodated this regime’s racist policies, until eventually forced to react following the mass direct action protests of the 1981 Springbok Tour.

Vietnam Anzacs: Australians and New Zealanders in the Vietnam War Tony Howell

Image by: Malcolm Deans

Compared with the vast screeds devoted to the First and Second World Wars, very little has been written about New Zealand’s involvement in the Vietnam War. New Zealand soldiers that served in Vietnam were badly treated by the NZ government on their return, treatment that the government eventually formally apologised for in 2008. Vietnam War veterans were even initially shunned by the Returned Services’ Association, the very organisation that should have been looking out for their welfare. Author Tony Howell is a veteran himself, and in this book, he attempts to give us a faithful picture of the actual operations carried out by the five ANZAC battalions during the war.