New Zealand's past has been a rollercoaster ride of hopes, dreams, wars and peace. In his fully revised Illustrated History, noted historian Matthew Wright brings New Zealand's turbulent, exciting past to life, tracing our journey from the arrival of Polynesians over 800 years ago, to the present day. Nearly 600 paintings, maps, sketches and photographs from the collection of the Alexander Turnbull Library highlight New Zealand's journey from past into present.

"Orestes" was one of Euripides' most popular plays in antiquity. Its plot, which centres on Orestes' murder of his mother Clytemnestra and its aftermath, is exciting as well as morally complex; its presentation of madness is unusually intense and disturbing; it deals with politics in a way which has resonances for both ancient and modern democracies; and, it has a brilliantly unexpected and ironic ending. Nevertheless, "Orestes" is not much read or performed in modern times. Why should thi...

Is politics strictly a means to an end—something that serves only the interests of individuals and the various associations of civil society such as families and charities? Or is a society’s political common good an end in itself, an essential component of full human flourishing? Responding to recent influential arguments for the instrumentality of the political common good, Matthew D. Wright’s A Vindication of Politics addresses a lacuna in natural law political theory by foregro...

Selfhood and the Soul is a collection of new and original essays in honour of Christopher Gill, Emeritus Professor of Ancient Thought at the University of Exeter. All of the essays in the volume contribute to a shared project - the exploration of ancient concepts of self and soul, understood in a broad sense - and, as in the work of the honorand himself, they are distinguished by a diversity of approach and subject matter, ranging widely across disciplinary boundaries to cover anc...

A thorough exposé of SEAL Team 6, the US military’s best-known brand, that reveals how the Navy SEALs were formed, then sacrificed, in service of American empire."A searing and unvarnished history." —Jeremy Scahill, New York Times author of Dirty WarsThe Navy SEALs are, in the eyes of many Americans, the ultimate heroes. When they killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011, it was cel...

Canada is not one nation, but three: English Canada, Quebec, and First Nations. Yet as a country Canada is very successful, in part because it maintains national diversity through bilingualism, multiculturalism, and federalism. Alongside this contemporary openness Canada also has its own history to contend with; with a legacy of broken treaties and residential schools for its Indigenous peoples, making reconciliation between Canada and First Nations an ongoing journey, not a destination.

An engrossing, expansive historical fantasy drama, inspired by the Mamluk slave dynasty of EgyptTumanbay: the wealthiest city on earth. The beating heart of a vast empire. A city of dreams, where those who once arrived as slaves now hold power, and merchants, artists and warriors live side-by-side in peace. But this magnificent city is under threat. A rebellion in a far-off province, led by 'Queen' Maya, is gathering strength - and a mysterious force is devouring t...

How key concepts in modern physics came from the work of a New Zealander whom Einstein labelled ‘a second Newton’.By the mid-nineteenth century, physicists believed they had discovered the last secrets of the universe. Then a new world opened up: one of waves, particles, and new, fundamental forces. This mysterious world swiftly captured the public imagination, not least because of the technical revolution that emerged from it, giving the world everything from radi...

On her search for answers, Jill's adventure is crashed by Rocket, a crazy old scientist. Along with troubled Kyle, they find themselves on a marvellous journey of wonders and dangers along The Road. Curiosity and desperate circumstances lead them to leave their homeland of Nowhere and set out to meet the Lord of the Way in a far country. On their travels they encounter extraordinary people and places, many a dangerous enemy, and in the process discover who they are and where they're really...

This book tells the story of HMS New Zealand, a battlecruiser paid for by the government of New Zealand at the height of its pro-Imperial 'jingo' era in 1909, when Britain's ally Japan was perceived as a threat in Australasia and the Pacific. Born of the collision between New Zealand's patriotic dreams and European politics, the tale of HMS New Zealand is further wrapped in the turbulent power-plays at the Admiralty in the years leading up to the First World War. The ship went on to have a...

From hero to zero, coal has taken New Zealand on a rollercoaster ride since its glory days as the hero fuel of colonial-age New Zealand.Coal was the fuel on which the colony grew the stuff that made possible the heating, cooking and lighting essential to family life, a lifestyle exalted during two World Wars and a depression. Coal was pivotal to the country’s growth, even as everybody grumbled about the mess. The men who dug it out of the ground had to keep digging, come what may...

The surviving works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides have been familiar to readers and theatregoers for centuries; but these works are far outnumbered by their lost plays. Between them these authors wrote around two hundred tragedies, the fragmentary remains of which are utterly fascinating.In this, the second volume of a major new survey of the tragic genre, Matthew Wright offers an authoritative critical guide to the lost plays of the three best-known tragedians. (The other ...