The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front by WRIGHT MATTHEW

$49.99 NZD

Category: First World War

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 i t 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 ...Show more

Two Peoples, One Land : The New Zealand Wars by Matthew Wright

$70.00 NZD

Category: New Zealand Wars

The New Zealand Wars - at one time called the Land Wars and the Maori Wars - represent one of the most misunderstood (and misreported) 30 years in this country's history. This is the first highly illustrated volume to comprehensively detail the events and personalities who gave shape to the conflict, co mbined with primary source materials such as official documents, diaries, manuscripts, private papers and statistical records collected and studied over many years. What results is a fascinating exploration of cultural miscommunication and the impact of Maori and Pakeha society on each other, of politics and religion, which peel back the veneer of previous studies to reveal the truth of this bloody war - which pitted British against Maori as well as Maori against Maori - fought out both on the physical battlefield and in the arenas of national pride and personal ambition. First published August 2006. ...Show more

Tiger Moths & Butterflies by P. Norman

$25.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

Tiger Moths and Butterflies: With the Airforce in War and Peace is the fascinating story of a schoolboy and his contemporaries during WWII. In 1942, Peter Norman and his friends were excited at the thought of escaping boyhood and getting into uniform to serve their country in the war. Desperate to take part in the action, they enlisted in the New Zealand Air Force, where unlike the Army, they would not need to wait until turning twenty-one before being sent overseas. In this beautifully written account, the reader is given an insight into the feelings of trepidation of a first solo flight in a Tiger Moth and the thrill of accomplishment. The book covers the period of training, both in New Zealand and in Canada, voyages in US troop ships across the Pacific, the exciting conversion to modern fighter aircraft, the companionship of a squadron and the inevitable loss of friends. Tiger Moths and Butterflies is a fully illustrated book with a wealth of photographs both private and official. It includes operating characteristics of four well-known wartime aircraft and how it felt to fly them. Peter Norman was born in Christchurch in 1924. He was educated at Christ’s College. After the war he returned to New Zealand where he took up a position with Thos Borthwicks and Sons and in 1982 he retired as Managing Director of that company. Norman was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in 1976. He lives at Drummond Cottage in Greytown and is married with a son and daughter. Tiger Moths and Butterflies is his third book. ...Show more

To Find a PathThe Life and Times of the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment Vols one and two by James Sinclair

$270.00 NZD

Category: Other Wars

Anzac The New Zealanders at Gallipoli by Christopher Pugsley

$25.00 NZD

Category: First World War

Spitfire (Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia) by Nigel Cawthorne

$20.00 NZD

Category: Tanks, aircraft, vehicles

This title tells the story of an iconic aircraft from World War II, that is illustrated with over 250 colour and black and white photographs. It takes you through the creation, construction, production and history of the Spitfire, as well as its role in the major battles of the war. It includes moving f irst-hand accounts from the pilots who flew the Spitfires, including both their experiences in combat and the way of life for the RAF at that time. It features a fascinating and engaging narrative written by a leading military history expert. It lists sites where surviving Spitfires can be viewed today so you can go and see this incredible aircraft for yourself. It compares the Spitfire with other great fighters - both Axis and Allied - in the skies at the time. It shows how the famous fighter plane had its origins in a series of trophy-winning seaplanes from the 1920s and 1930s, and how it was developed. This engrossing book retells the story of the iconic aircraft of World War I. It goes into the heart of the action, showing what it was like to fly a spitfire in the Battle of Britain, and tells the moving stories of the brave young pilots who flew this all-conquering machine. In addition, this book lists where surviving planes can be seen today so that you see the incredible aircraft for yourself. The fascinating and informed text, written by a leading expert in the field and accompanied by over 250 stunning contemporary and historical photos, make this the ultimate reference for anybody with an interest in military history or aviation. ...Show more

Shooting Through - Campo 106 Escaped POWs after the Italian Armistice by Katrina Kittel

$35.00 NZD

Category: Second World War

In early September 1943, Italy capitulated to the Allies. Australian prisoners of war, POWs, seized this watershed moment and snatched supplies before walking out of Italy's rice farms scattered on the Piedmont plain west of Milan.Escapes were mostly easy but freedom was vexed. The ultimate challenge fo r escaped POWs was to navigate and to outlive the volatile context of post-armistice Italy beyond their prison camps. Wearing uniforms or a motley clash of civilian cast-off clothing, escapers had a price on their heads as they headed north towards alpine passes and neutral Swiss territory, or as they wandered in search of advancing Allied Lines in south Italy. During their treks through mountains, valleys and 'freedom trails', Australians teamed up with New Zealand, British and South African POWs to dodge German and fascist militia and to take up arms with fledgling Resistance brigades. Not all escaped POWs survived.At its heart, Shooting Through highlights a unique shared history between Australian escapers and the Italians who risked severe retributions to host and guide the POWs.Drawing extensively on first-hand accounts sourced from Australian and British archives, as well as memoirs and oral accounts by ex-POWs and Italian witnesses, Katrina Kittel weaves the stories of thirty escaper groups through time and theme to reveal key evasion routes and the various outcomes that befell escaped POWs in Italy. The veterans' accounts burst with humour and compassion as they offer their insights into Italy's war. From her perspective as a graduate historian and as a daughter to a former POW, Katrina Kittel has uncovered a richer story behind the few enigmatic details that her father, Colin Booth, and many of his fellow POWs chose to share with their families.Shooting Through includes a nominal roll of Australian POWs interned at the Campo 106 rice farms.Shooting Through includes a foreword by Professor Peter Monteath. ...Show more

Mark of the Lion: The Story of Charles Upham, VC and Bar by Kenneth Sandford

$15.00 NZD

$31.00 (51% off)

Category: Second World War | Reading Level: very good

Charles Upham was the great New Zealand war hero. He was one of the few people in history to have won the Victoria Cross twice, setting new standards of personal heroism during World War II. A quietly spoken sheep farmer back home in Canterbury, at the front in Crete and North Africa he destroyed enemy machinegun posts single-handed and led a frontal assault on enemy guns. His exploits and individual heroism are the stuff of Kiwi legend. He then spent the rest of the war in prisoner-of-war camps, including the famous Colditz Castle, where he made life a misery for the German guards, constantly trying to escape. This bestselling book was first published by Hutchinson in Britain in 1962 and reprinted many times. It has become a classic. In a new Afterword written for this edition, Bruce Wallace, author of Battle of the Titans, describes Upham's life following the war until his death in 1994. Also available as an eBook ...Show more

The Sword and the Pen - Selections from the World's Greatest Military Writings by Basil H. Liddell-Hart; Adrian Liddell Hart

$30.00 NZD

Category: Other Wars

General Giap : The General Headquarters in the Spring of Brilliant Victory

$135.00 NZD

Category: Vietnam War

An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson

$10.00 NZD

Category: Second World War | Series: Liberation Trilogy

In the first volume of his monumental trilogy about the liberation of Europe in WW II, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson tells the riveting story of the war in North Africa The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is a story of courage and enduring triumph, of calamity and misca lculation. In this first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern reader can understand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of the great drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. That first year of the Allied war was a pivotal point in American history, the moment when the United States began to act like a great power. Beginning with the daring amphibious invasion in November 1942, An Army at Dawn follows the American and British armies as they fight the French in Morocco and Algeria, and then take on the Germans and Italians in Tunisia. Battle by battle, an inexperienced and sometimes poorly led army gradually becomes a superb fighting force. Central to the tale are the extraordinary but fallible commanders who come to dominate the battlefield: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, Montgomery, and Rommel. Brilliantly researched, rich with new material and vivid insights, Atkinson's narrative provides the definitive history of the war in North Africa. ...Show more

The Battle of Britain by John Ray

$5.00 NZD

Category: Second World War | Series: Cassell Military Paperbacks Ser.

Based on over a decade of new resarch into the Battle of Britain, this book examines Dowding's tactics in detail, relating how everyday he was under personal attack from rivals who wanted different ideas and air defences.