Ngaio Press

Ngaio Press is a boutique publisher specialising in quality books about New Zealand and New Zealanders. Our titles are available in good book stores and direct from our offices in Wellington. We also mail books within New Zealand and overseas. To find out more about our titles, including prices and how to order them, click on the links or book covers below:

LATEST BOOKS

PIANO IN THE PARLOUR
Pianos were in huge numbers of New Zealand front parlours through Victorian and Edwardian times and into the 1920s. Central to home and community entertainment, they also stoked the flames of love for courting couples. Written by historian and musician John MacGibbon, Piano in the Parlour is a richly illustrated social history that looks affectionately at a time when pianos were the home entertainment system and most cherished domestic possession in New Zealand and many other countries. The book has words and music (including chords) for 17 typical parlour songs.

MAORILAND STORIES
First published in 1895, these short stories were written by Alfred Grace, a member of the celebrated Maoriland School of Writing that flourished between 1896 and 1915. These writers' romantic treatment of the Maori people helped shape New Zealand’s culture in the early twentieth century. This near-facsimile edition includes an extended essay by Dr Anne Maxwell which discusses the author and his stories, placing them in their historical and cultural context. AVAILABLE OCTOBER 2008

SHEPHERD'S PROGRESS
Scottish shepherds and their border collies are woven into the legend of New Zealand’s high country sheep stations. James Elliot was one of these and he ended up managing a large group of sheep runs in Central Otago for New Zealand's great Victorian and Edwardian mercantile partnership, Ross & Glendining. A profusely illustrated book that is part family history, part farming history and part social history.

ALL FORMED UP
The story of Wellington Returned and Services’ Association (RSA) from its beginnings in 1916 until 2007. Of the many RSAs in New Zealand towns and cities, Wellington has been the most broadly influential because its capital city location meant it worked closely with the national organisation. Until a history of NZRSA is published, this is de facto a history of the RSA in New Zealand.

JAYCEE
In its heyday, Jaycee was one of New Zealand’s liveliest service organisations and contributed greatly to our social infrastructure. Every community has amenities built or aided by the Jaycees and they also trained leaders for roles in politics, local government and business. This readable and well-illustrated book remembers the fun times and the more serious times, while making an important contribution to New Zealand history and the international study of service organisations.

GOING ABROAD (NOW IN THIRD PRINTING)
Illustrated social history about early migrants to the Free Church of Scotland settlement in Otago, NZ, in the mid 19th century. Going Abroad has become a standard reference for people researching their roots in Otago and Southland, plus the life they left behind in Scotland, and the nature of sailing ship voyages to the ends of the earth.

BARCE RAID
The famous and exciting Long Range Desert Group raid on Barce airfield and town in WWII, from both Allied and Italian sides in the action. Written by foremost LRDG authority Brendan O'Carroll, this full-colour, heavily illustrated hardback will enthrall general readers and Special Forces enthusiasts alike.

OTHER GREAT TITLES IN PRINT

A DRIVEN MAN
Missionary Thomas Grace in New Zealand, 1850-1879: controversy, danger, and battling for Maori causes. New Zealand at the time of the Land Wars, through the eyes of a fearless critic – an important information source for anyone interested in interactions between settlers and tangata whenua.

BEARDED BRIGANDS
The legendary Long Range Desert Group in North Africa during World War II, in the celebrated diaries & photos of Trooper Frank Jopling.

WOOL: A history of New Zealand's wool industry
The definitive story by Bill Carter & John MacGibbon of New Zealand's sheep and wool industry from colonial times to the present day. A major work of New Zealand history.

STRUAN'S WAR
WWII battles, recreation and sightseeing in North Africa and Palestine – photos and diaries of a New Zealand Division gunner who was as talented with his camera as he was with his pen.

THE MAGIC HOUR
John Giacon, prolific magazine writer and one of New Zealand fishing's great raconteurs, shares a lifetime's experience in the sport in one of the most charming fishing books of recent years.

UP THE BLUE
North Africa and Italy in WWII: Roger Smith's Kiwi classic about the people, the places, the fighting and the psychology.

CHRISTINA'S STORY
Life in the New Hebrides as a New Zealand Presbyterian missionary's wife, 1938-1956. NOT a tale of piety and conversion.