New Zealand history

	Old South: Life and Times in the Nineteenth Century Mainland Penguin, Auckland 2009 ‘A really significant contribution to our history'  – Harry Broad, Radio New Zealand National, 10 September 2009. ‘...this vibrant history has, in Matthew Wright, a worthy and very able scholar to explain ity”  – Fritz Logan, Timaru Herald, 21 November 2009. 'In this book, Wright attempts to meet Leo Tolstoy's challenge as expressed in War and Peace: the subject of history is the life of peoples and of humanity...'  –  Vic Evans, Nelson Mail, 25 November 2009. Old South is a book of triumphs, tragedies and earnest hopes. In its pages, noted historian Matthew Wright paints a vibrant picture of the rise and fall of social idealism in the old south – the tale of the greedy, idealistic social engineers who dreamed of a bigger, better Britain freed of its social ills, a world built around religious conviction and pure private-enterprise ideals. He explores their world – and the rise and fall of its successor, a colourful, vigorous frontier of gold and wool. The South Island emerged instead as a colourful world of social climbers, would-be aristocrats and ambitious ne’er-do-wells. Their deeds and hopes shaped the nineteenth century south for a generation. 352 pp ISBN 9781742288178 | 1742288170 See Matthew Wright's books at Penguin
	Big Ideas: 100 Wonders of New Zealand Engineering Random House, Auckland 2009 Big Ideas: 100 Wonders of New Zealand Engineering offers an exciting glimpse of New Zealand's engineering history. Through a hundred projects covering more than 150 years, Matthew Wright recounts some of the triumphs, innovations and hard work that have given New Zealand some of its greatest bridges, buildings and inventions. This book was one of the top ten best selling non-fiction books in New Zealand during August and September 2009. 240 pp ISBN 9783069791070 See this book at Random House
	Fantastic Pasts: Imaginary adventures in New Zealand history Penguin, Auckland 2007 "...a great philosophical read, and the possibilities are endless..." - Graeme Cass, Hawke's Bay Today, 2 June 2007. Let's suppose New Zealand's past was a little different.  That Polynesians didn't discover New Zealand.  Or that the Spanish did. Imagine a New Zealand where prohibition held sway.  Or where a volcano erupted in Auckland in 1932.  Suppose Japan invaded us in 1942.  Or imagine if somebody had been killed during the 1981 Springbok tour. Matthew Wright explores these possible worlds and others in a collection of imaginary histories that portray a very different New Zealand from the one we know - another country filled with steam-powered racing cars, gourmet moa roasts, llamas and garrulous politicians. 262pp ISBN 978 014 302053 0 See Matthew Wright's books at Penguin
	The Reed Illustrated History of New Zealand Reed, Auckland, 2004 "[Wright's] well informed, substantial and thoroughly readable text tells a coherent story of the human occupation of this land. A meticulous production and excellent value for money.' - The Dominion-Post Weekend, 6-7 November 2004. Matthew Wright extends his award-winning interpretation of our colonial past in this popular and accessible account of New Zealand’s life and times since around 1800. Why do we want to own our quarter-acre slice of paradise? Where did our ideals of equality come from? And why has the ‘cultural cringe’ taken so long to overcome? Matthew Wright tells us why in his lively, accessible narrative that recounts our headlong journey through peace, war, suffrage, beer and ultimately cafes up to late twentieth century. His text is complemented by more than 600 images from the collection of the Alexander Turnbull Library, painting the essential picture of our past over the past hundred and fifty years. These images bring to reality the people, the places and the themes that have made New Zealand what it is today. This is a book to read, to dip into, to browse, and to enjoy - a celebration of the strength and diversity of New Zealand's remarkable history. An 'essential Reed' for every New Zealand home. 488pp  ISBN 0790009552  Out of print
	Town and Country - The History of Hastings and District HDC, Hastings, 2001 The history of Hastings and district can be traced back to the earliest days of settlement in Hawke's Bay. Enthusiastic settlers eager to build a new society established a boisterous town which quickly became a focal point of the surrounding countryside. In an accessible and well-referenced narrative, Matthew Wright traces the development of a town and district from the 1860s to the turn of the twenty-first century, linking events into the broader sweep of New Zealand history and showing how and why the district developed as it did over the years. 750pp  ISBN 0-473-07662-4 Out of print
	Quake Hawke's Bay 1931 75th commemoration  edition Reed, Auckland 2001, reprinted 2006 "...[an] unrivalled blend of compelling scholarly detail and poignant human interest...' - Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 June 2006. "...all the ingredients of a Hollywood blockbuster...a fascinating depiction of horrific destruction, tragedy, heroism and survival..."  -Hawke's Bay Today, 31 January 2006.  On 3 February 1931, Hawke's Bay was shattered by the largest earthquake ever recorded in New Zealand. It was a disaster of national proportions, a catastrophe that killed 256 people and seriously injured more than 400.  Fresh pictures, diaries and eyewitness accounts have continued to emerge since, painting a picture of immediacy that spans the decades. Scientific analysis has revised most of the previously accepted details of the seismic event, including the strength of the quake - revised down in 1981 to a magnitude of 7.8. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and rare photographs of the quake, Matthew Wright brings the tragic events of February 1931 to life in this illustrated and solidly researched account of New Zealand's most destructive natural disaster.  This edition, produced for the 75th commemoration, includes 40 new images, some previously unpublished.  158pp  ISBN 0 7900 0776 2 See Matthew Wright's books at Penguin
	New Zealand's Engineering Heritage Reed, Auckland 1999 "...a really excellent history of engineering in New Zealand... a stunning record..." - Gretchen Kivell, e.nz,, March 2000. New Zealand has an impressive engineering heritage, recognised by the Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand in a series of awards given to prominent engineering achievements. This well-illustrated book commemorates the IPENZ award-winners from Kaitaia to Bluff. Over 65 projects, spanning more than 130 years, feature in this record of engineering works that have contributed to the shape of New Zealand today. 167pp ISBN 0 7900 0690 1 Out of print
	Working Together - The History of Carter Oji Kokusaku Pan Pacific Ltd, 1971-1993 Carter-Oji Kokusaku Pan Pacific Ltd was one of the first international joint ventures in New Zealand, and has been acknowledged as one of the most successful. This book is about Pan Pac during the years of that joint venture, tracing the history of the company from a simple comment made during a chance meeting, to the establishment and development of a company that became a major player in the New Zealand timber processing sector. 152pp ISBN 0-473-05378-0 Not commercially available
	Napier - City of Style Photography by Clive Ralph Random House, Auckland 1997 This well-illustrated overview of Napier paints a portrait of New Zealand's premier art-deco city, from its origins as an 1850s colonial town, through the disastrous 1931 earthquake to its rebirth and renaissance as a modernist city. 112pp ISBN 306941 313 X
	Havelock North - The History of a Village HDC, Hastings 1996 Havelock North was more than just a small Hawke's Bay town. For three generations it was 'our village', a place with a sense of community, a home to colourful independent philosophers, writers and artists whose influence shaped a community unlike any other New Zealand had seen. In a lively and well-referenced narrative, Matthew Wright traces 150 years of history, from the first European efforts to buy land in the Te Mata district through to the 1989 local body reforms. 290pp ISBN 0-473-03962-1
	Hawke's Bay - The History of a Province Dunmore Press, Palmerston North, 1994 In this award-winning book, Matthew Wright outlines the broad historical patterns that shaped Hawke's Bay from pre-European days through to the last decade of the twentieth century, focussing in particular on the elite society of the day. 215pp ISBN 0 8649 306 6

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