"Sir George Grey, governor of New Zealand, South Australia and the Cape Colony, was an outstanding British colonial statesman in the nineteenth century." "Brilliant and inscrutable, Grey, who was in contact with key Victorians from Darwin to Whately throughout his life, played a central role in overseeing the development of British colonies into politically autonomous entities." "Less well known of Grey is that he was an obsessive collector of rare books and artefacts, which he selflessly bequeathed to the people he governed, establishing 'Grey Collections' in Cape Town and Auckland." "This study, written by a former librarian of the Auckland collection, reveals the genius and magnanimity of an increasingly controversial figure, demonstrating the complex humanity underlying his apparent remoteness. It is the first study on Grey of its kind."--BOOK JACKET.

Discover 100 of the world's most extraordinary man made and natural treasures, objects and places Discover 100 of the world's most remarkable artefacts, most stunning artworks and most intriguing ruins in this beautifully illustrated book about Earth's treasures.Treasures both natural and manmade make an appearance in a tour which stretches across thousands of years and all around the globe. Discover sunken wrecks loaded with pirate gold, the abandoned tombs of the world's most powerful rulers and even meteorites - treasures from outer space!A central gatefold offers a close-up look at the wonders hidden within the Forbidden City in China, while Blue Peter award-winning author David Long also addresses contemporary topics such as our threatened natural wonders and the ownership of cultural treasures.

Te Rauparaha is most well known today as the composer of the haka &‘Ka mate', made famous the world over by the All Blacks. A major figure in nineteenth-century history, Te Rauparaha was responsible for rearranging the tribal landscape of a large part of the country after leading his tribe Ngati Toa to migrate to Kapiti Island. He is venerated by his own descendants but reviled with equal passion by the descendants of those tribes who were on the receiving end of his military campaigns in the musket-war era. He Pukapuka Tataku i nga Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui is a 50,000-word account in te reo Maori of Te Rauparaha's life, written by his son Tamihana Te Rauparaha between 1866 and 1869. A pioneering work of Maori (and, indeed, indigenous) biography, Tamihana's narrative weaves together the oral accounts of his father and other kaumatua to produce an extraordinary record of Te Rauparaha and his rapidly changing world. Edited and translated by Ross Calman, a descendant of Te Rauparaha, He Pukapuka Tataku i nga Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui makes available for the first time this major work of Maori literature in a parallel Maori/English edition.

Richly illustrated with Charles Heaphy's remarkable paintings and drawings as well as photographs and maps from the period, this engaging work tells the story of Heaphy's life and his art. A draughtsman, explorer, surveyor, gold agent, geologist, soldier, war hero, politician, land commissioner, and judge—even by the versatile standards of Victorian pioneers, Charles Heaphy had an unusually varied career. His biography tells as much about his own life as it does of the settlement of New Zealand. From his earliest surviving watercolor of bird life in 1839 to his last-known sketch, drawn on the back of an envelope in 1879, Charles Heaphy's art represents a remarkable visual diary of life as a settler in New Zealand.

A captivating and original prequel to "Treasure Island" that will delight fans of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic as well as fans of those "other" pirates of the Caribbean.