A PHOTOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Renowned historian Michael King (1945-2004) presents a comprehensive and searching documentary of Maori culture and society, and Maori-Pakeha contact, conflict and co-operation.

From the earliest daguerreotype around 1852 to the strong protest images of the 1990s, King records and analyses changes and upheaval in the commentary that is always intelligent and objective.

This book leaves the reader with not only a better understanding of the past but a challenge for the future.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY: Michael King became New Zealand's leading writer on Maori history. Until his untimely death in 2004, he contributed a wealth of research and literature, including several biographies of influential Maori leaders, a prize-winning television series on Maori life and the bestselling The Penguin History of New Zealand. King was awarded an OBE for services to literature and, in 2003, the inaugural Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in non-fiction.

Considering Law & Order's popularity, over 88 million viewers watch it and its spinoffs and reruns each week, the dearth of books about the show is fairly surprising. This literary tribute, divided neatly into three sections, is more than a fetishist's bedside companion. Wolf, the show's creator, offers a brisk introduction, setting the tone with some revealing background tidbits (e.g., Wolf and his colleagues chose a bifurcated format for the show so it could be syndicated as either a half-hour or full-hour show). "Anatomy of a Crime Scene," by far the most revealing section, takes a 2002 episode, "Oxymoron," and explains how it came together, bit by bit. Wolf gives everyone e.g., the police technical consultant, the executive producer, the actor playing a corpse (she was paid $161 for the day's work)a few crisp, concise paragraphs to explain their contributions. The "Scenes of the Crime" portion shares photos of the central crime scenes (taken by Burstein, the show's still photographer). While some of the images are too obviously composed, most are impossible to distinguish from real crime scene shots. The book's final section, "In the Criminal Justice System," which gives a loving overview of the show's major players (including Paul Sorvino, Angie Harmon and Jerry Orbach), is, while good enough, probably for serious fans only, as casual readers may not be as interested in learning, for example, why the character Detective Sergeant Phil Cerreta is a snappy dresser. Altogether, this is a simple, classy and authoritative gift book. B&w photos

This is a stunning collection of photographs of early powerboats and launches taken from the mid 1890s to the late 1920s by renowned maritime photographer Henry Winkelmann.
The wide range of images shows a variety of craft, some utterly obscure, some quite famous, from elegant launches and humble working boats to dashing early speedboats.
All capture the essence of the boat, the place and the time.