Books

WORDS: MARIANNE TREMAINE

History creates pictures

Using words and illustrations to convey the emotional power of historical events

The enormity of what the captain of HMS Endurance, Frank Worsley, faced as leader of a trans-Antarctic expedition is evident in Ice Breaker! An Epic Antarctic Adventure, written by Maria Gill and illustrated by Alistair Hughes (New Holland, $29.99).

This illustrated children’s book takes its readers along with Frank into what seem like impossible situations with no escape. At first, ice floes bar the ship’s passage, then it is stuck in ice and drifts for nine months. Finally, ice crushes and wrecks the ship and Frank navigates his men through the ice floes in three lifeboats to enable their survival.

The words create vivid pictures and the map of the Endurance’s journey at the back of the book shows the route taken by Frank and his men during two years of sailing. This book is ideal for readers who love adventure, with exciting insights into Antarctica’s challenges and the determination needed by its explorers.

The General and the Nightingale: Dan Davin’s War Stories, edited by Janet Wilson (Otago University Press, $45), shows examples of a different type of courage – the courage needed to endure boredom, danger, extreme discomfort and loss.

The stories provide an understanding of the psychological damage of war, when people who endure extreme danger must also adapt to boredom and routine

on the front line, and the difficulty of communicating with those at home who think their loved ones should find safe and cushy spots to sit out the rest of the war.

The everyday reality of war is made easy to grasp because the stories draw readers in to the experiences of the soldiers as they are happening: the fear, the discomfort, the stress, the boredom. Because the stories deal with the specific experiences of individuals, readers identify with them.

You feel for the sergeant in ‘East is West’. He is trying to write a letter to a mother whose son has died on the battlefield and, after several attempts, gets no further than ‘Dear Mrs Curtis’ after three days.

In the same story, four soldiers attempt to drive through the dark to join other New Zealand troops, without knowing east from west or whether they are driving away from or towards the Germans. Suddenly they hit a mine, which destroys the legs of the captain. He has been asserting himself by sneering at and contradicting the three of lower rank in the van.

As he dies, the captain cries like a baby, calls out for his mother and begs one of

the men to shoot him. The atmosphere in the van is tangible. The reader is there in the dark in the van, sees the men and feels their feelings.

All the war stories in this book are simple in words but powerful in meaning. They show you, rather than tell you, what is happening. Because the characters and situations in Dan Davin’s stories are so easy to identify with, they give a better understanding of a soldier’s experiences in war than many other war stories.

In comparison, Down a Country Road II: More Stories from New Zealand’s Back Country, by Tony Orman (New Holland, $34.99), deals with different types of pictures. This is a rural life full of fascinating characters; I was struck by Whacka Anderson’s eccentric hospitality, including the grubby coffee mug he gives his visitor, and the hens on the kitchen table, which is encrusted with their droppings. These are great stories of places, people and a way of life that could have been lost and forgotten without the writer’s efforts to preserve them.

By examining the information to be gained from archaeology,

Pākehā Settlements in a Māori World: New Zealand Archaeology 1769-1860, by Ian Smith (Bridget Williams Books, $59.99), takes us back to a time in New Zealand when Pākehā were a minority amongst Māori.

An Honorary Associate Professor in the archaeology programme at the University of Otago, Ian made a huge contribution to New Zealand archaeology over four decades, and pioneered the teaching of historical archaeology in New Zealand.

This book, published shortly before his death in January of this year following a long illness, is a culmination of his life’s work and is widely acknowledged for the considerable contribution it makes to our understanding of early Pākehā life.

In the book Ian looks at objects such as Māori fishing gear, buttons, assorted artefacts and the remains of clothing as a way of further explaining history, and shows readers how much more can be learned about the past by exploring information that still exists in the present.

In The Hunters: The Precarious Lives of New Zealand’s Birds Of Prey, by Debbie Stewart (Penguin, Random House, $50),

Debbie communicates her love and admiration for these magnificent birds and gives readers an amazing amount of information about them.

Her explanation of the way birds of prey function is so compelling, it is easy to feel respect and awe for them as inhabitants of our world.

Watching a hawk in flight is always breathtaking, and it is fascinating to learn how the hawk’s tail feathers work in flight and to realise that, unlike other birds, its eyes are not on the side of its head but on the front, as with humans.

This book is gripping reading that brings these birds, usually only sighted in the distance, much closer to us.

Kauri: Witness to a Nation’s History, by Joanna Orwin (New Holland, $45), is a second edition that Joanna was persuaded to write because of the current threats to these inspiring trees.

Kauri are seen as symbols of strength, power and endurance and because of their longevity appear almost indestructible; however, recent threats posed by subdivision and land development, along with the mysterious but fatal and fast-spreading kauri dieback

disease, have exposed their fragility.

Reading this book reminds you how much the environment has changed for kauri and makes you wonder what the forests of northern New Zealand would be like if there were to be a future without these magnificent trees.

In Birdstories: A History of the Birds of New Zealand (Potton & Burton, $59.99), Geoff Norman provides the full story of New Zealand bird species, including photographs, cartoons, paintings of Māori rock art and clear, user-friendly tables and figures linking sources of information.

The stories of why particular species have developed in the way they have are written in a completely absorbing way. Geoff has the rare gift of not only being an expert bird enthusiast but also being able to communicate and share that enthusiasm with others. His writing style is so comfortable and conversational it makes you want to keep reading.

Geoff includes all the tidbits of information about species that even non-experts are likely to know and builds on these to create a fascinating story. He includes some disconcerting figures and

GIVEAWAY

We have one copy of Pākehā Settlements in a Māori World: New Zealand Archaeology 1769-1860 to give away. To enter the draw, send your name and address on the back of an envelope to Book Giveaways, Heritage New Zealand, PO Box 2629, Wellington 6140, before 20 July 2020. The winner of last issue’s book giveaway (Leading the Way: 100 Years of the Tararua Tramping Club) was Marlene Anderson of Masterton.

statistics about conservation issues but deals with successes and conservation champions as well.

At the same time as he helps readers to confront the reality of past damage done, Geoff shows us how much there is still to treasure about our country’s birds. Anyone with an interest in the natural world will be captivated by this book.

Books are chosen for review in Heritage New Zealand magazine at the discretion of the Books Editor. Due to the volume of books received, we cannot guarantee the timing of any reviews that appear and we are unable to return any copies submitted for review. Ngā mihi. RETURN TO CONTENTS