A History Of New Zealand In 100 Objects

Authored by award-winning historian Jock Phillips, The History of New Zealand in 100 Objects is gripping, inclusive, often revelatory and deeply human. A colourful and characterful retelling of our shared past, relevant to today, particular to all of us. The sewing kete of an unknown 18th-century Maori woman; the Endeavour cannons that fired on waka in 1769; the bagpipes of an Irish publican Paddy Galvin; the school uniform of Harold Pond, a Napier Tech pupil in the Hawke’s Bay quake; the Biko shields that tried to protect protestors during the Springbok tour in 1981; Winston Reynolds’ remarkable home-made Hokitika television set, the oldest working TV in the country; the soccer ball that was a tribute to Tariq Omar, a victim of the Christchurch Mosque shootings, and so many more – these are items of quiet significance and great personal meaning, taonga carrying stories that together represent a dramatic, full-of-life history for everyday New Zealanders.

Once the preserve of the English, now, for nations the world over, summertime means cricket bats to be oiled, rain forecasts analysed and tea in the pavilion. Cricket has enthralled us since the seventeenth century. But what is it about the game that provokes such fervour? Award-winning sports author Gavin Mortimer calls together a cast of salt-of-the-earth Yorkshiremen, American billionaires and dashing Indian princes to tell the strange and remarkable tale of cricket's journey from medieval village sport of 'club-ball' to the global media circus graced by superstars from Denis Compton to Sachin Tendulkar. If you've ever wanted to know what a hoop skirt has to do with overarm bowling, why England fight Australia over a burnt bail, or how to avoid tickling a jaffa in the corridor of uncertainty, Mortimer chalks up a stunning century of tales in the first truly accessible global history of cricket.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Human life began in Africa. Our ancestors there created the first stone tools to chop meat, bones, and wood. It was this increasing dependency on the things we create that makes humans different from all other animals. #2 The mummy of Hornedjitef, an Egyptian priest, is still yielding new information and sending us messages through time. The objects that were made for him demonstrate the ways in which this history will ask and occasionally answer different kinds of questions about objects. #3 The inner coffin has a gilded face, which indicates divine status. It also has an image of the sun god as a winged scarab beetle, symbol of spontaneous life, flanked by baboons who worship the rising sun. #4 Thanks to scientific advances, we can learn a lot more about Hornedjitef today than was possible in 1835. For example, we can see how old he was, what kind of food he ate, and how he died.

This book looks at 100 items that have profoundly shaped how people watched, studied and engaged with the avian world. Each item contains around 500 words on a double-page spread and include an illustration of the object in question. The book includes the objects listed below as well as many more.The range of items is international and cross-cultural. Subjects include: *An Egyptian 'field guide' (early tomb decorations of birds, identifiable as species) *Ornithologiae libri tres: the first British bird guide (a 1676 publication that attempted to itemise all British birds known at the time) *The Dodo specimen held at the Horniman museum *Systema Naturae by Carl Linnaeus (the first-ever system of scientific names in 1758, and still the international standard today) *The shotgun *The book, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne by Gilbert White (1789) *HMS Beagle (the ship on which Darwin made his ground-breaking discoveries) *Aluminium bird rings (used to record movement and longevity of individuals and species) Along with many more modern innovations including walkie talkies, pagers, radio tags and apps.

Did you ever wonder which civilisation first took to water in small craft? Who worked out how to measure distance or plot a course at sea? Or why the humble lemon rose to such prominence in the diets of sailors? Taking one hundred objects that have been pivotal in the development of sailing and sailing boats, the book provides a fascinating insight into the history of sailing. From the earliest small boats, through magnificent Viking warships, to the technology that powers some of the most sophisticated modern yachts, the book also covers key developments such as keeps and navigational aids such as the astrolabe, sextant and compass. Other more apparently esoteric objects from all around the world are also included, including the importance of citrus fruit in the prevention of scurvy, scrimshaw made from whalebone and the meaning of sailor's tattoos. Beautifully illustrated with lively and insightful text, it's a perfect gift for the real or armchair sailor, the book gives an alternative insight into how and why we sail the way we do today.

A stone-age hand axe, an enchantingly sculpted yakshi, the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and even an HMT watch—can these things have anything in common? Yes, they can! Each of these has been conceived by the human mind and shaped by the human hand. Each object has a voice, not just of rulers and conquerors, but also of the common people. Most significant of all, each carries stories of how communities and identities were built on the Indian subcontinent. Spanning the entirety of Indian history, from prehistoric to contemporary times, the 100 objects and artefacts chronicled in this book have shaped our present. Learn about the people who created these amazing objects, their way of life and culture, and how these objects influenced our world. Embellished with vibrant illustrations, this engaging book will fire the imagination of readers and make them look at our incredible material remains in a new light while helping them understand our diverse pasts.

Very often, history is thought of as that lesson we suffered through at school, made into boring facts and figures rather than the rich and interesting tales that actually comprise it. In English and British History in 100 Bite-size Chunks, history is enlivened and broken down into readable ‘chunks’ that anyone can read, and learn, at their leisure. Beginning at the beginning, with the physical formation of these lands, it ends where we are now, with our current lifestyle, government, society, beliefs, complexities, fears and hopes. It charts the development of England’s characteristics through the great and the good, and ordinary men and women; those who often get the glory and those who lived lives more hidden from history’s storytellers. It brings to life people, places, events and ideas; and successes and failures. This is not a story of England in splendid isolation but a more rounded picture touching on the influences from and on other places and nations, for good or bad, near and far in geography and time. 100 Bitesize Chunks are followed by a recognition of historic themes and some conclusions, and just a glimpse of the possible future history of a nation. A commentary on history itself, how we know, how ‘history works’, what we think of it, and how we care for it – or don’t care for it, this book is an encouragement to study history actively through the evidence we can see and touch and interpret, in museums and in its real locations. Ideal for anyone returning to history or for an enthusiast!

This book details the interactions between the Seeds of Rangiatea, New Zealand’s Maori people of Polynesian origin, and Europe from 1769 to 1900. It provides a case-study of the way Imperial era contact and colonization negatively affected naturally evolving demographic/epidemiologic transitions and imposed economic conditions that thwarted development by precursor peoples, wherever European expansion occurred. In doing so, it questions the applicability of conventional models for analyses of colonial histories of population/health and of development. The book focuses on, and synthesizes, the most critical parts of the story, the health and population trends, and the economic and social development of Maori. It adopts demographic methodologies, most typically used in developing countries, which allow the mapping of broad changes in Maori society, particularly their survival as a people. The book raises general theoretical questions about how populations react to the introduction of diseases to which they have no natural immunity. Another more general theoretical issue is what happens when one society’s development processes are superseded by those of some more powerful force, whether an imperial power or a modern-day agency, which has ingrained ideas about objectives and strategies for development. Finally, it explores how health and development interact. The Maori experience of contact and colonization, lasting from 1769 to circa 1900, narrated here, is an all too familiar story for many other territories and populations, Natives and former colonists. This book provides a case-study with wider ramifications for theory in colonial history, development studies, demography, anthropology and other fields.