In March 1909 New Zealand’s Premier Joseph Ward offered a ‘first-class battleship of the latest type’ to the British Navy as a contribution to the Empire (and to guard against the perceived threat of a newly rising Japan). Paid for by the people of New Zealand it would enter service in time to fight with distinction in all the major naval battles in the First World War.
Born of the collision between New Zealand’s patriotic dreams and European politics, the tale of HMS New Zealand is further wrapped in issues of engineering, naval strategy and public opinion. Written as part naval history and part ‘biography’ of the vessel and its sailors, The Battlecruiser New Zealand is a fast-paced account of the ship’s career — brought to life through official documents, eyewitness accounts and new research.
Extensively illustrated throughout with black & white and colour photos, plans and paintings, this attractive hardback will appeal to a wide audience, from naval enthusiasts to the general reader of New Zealand history.
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Title: The Battlecruiser New Zealand Author: Matthew Wright ISBN: 978-1-526784-0-32 RRP: $59.99 Specs: Jacketed hardback, 234 x 156 mm portrait, 288 pp, b&w with colour Published: 16 November 2021 TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK -
Title: Le Quesnoy 1918: New Zealand's Last Battle Author: Christopher Pugsley ISBN: 978-0-947506-49-0 RRP: $39.99 Specs: 297 x 210 mm portrait, PB, 168 pp (b&w with 8-pp colour) Publishing: 25 October 2018 UPDATED EDITION PUBLISHED 18 March 2020 REPRINTED WITH UPDATES 20 November 2022 The Book: The New Zealand Division’s capture of the French town of Le Quesnoy was its last and most successful action in the First World War. Breaking through defensive lines and scaling the town walls by ladder, the New Zealanders overwhelmed the defenders, freeing the town after years of German occupation.It was a victory that resounded around the world, and helped convince German high command they could no longer hold the front. Based on his intimate knowledge of the landscape and those involved, Dr Christopher Pugsley puts together the story with his mastery of drama and detail — producing a book that is thrilling at the same time as a tribute to the New Zealanders who died (and whose details are fully recorded here for the first time).
Updated with additional information received from descendants since the first publication in October 2018, and with a new red cover to match, Le Quesnoy 1918 is an inspiring read of relevance to all New Zealanders.
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Title: The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front Author: Matthew Wright ISBN: 978-0-947506-19-3 RRP: $49.99 Specs: 240 x 170 mm portrait, PB with flaps, 392 pp, black & white Publishing: 6 April 2017 The Book: In The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front, historian Matthew Wright goes to the heart of how the First World War affected the lives of ordinary New Zealanders. The book analyses what it was like for New Zealand soldiers at the two main battle fronts where they fought, and frames it with the social effects back home. Beginning with an outline of pre-war New Zealand society, Wright portrays the extraordinary world of war into which its young men plunged as they entered the baptism of fire at Gallipoli. The end of innocence that the withdrawal from the Dardanelles implied led to a harder, more fatalistic approach in the theatre of mechanised death that was the Western Front. By war’s end, hope and glory had faded, replaced by a new view of military heroism – in a country forever changed.