NEW BOOK INFORMATION FROM PHILLIPS & KING PUBLISHERS

Title: Waimakariri: An illustrated History.
Author: Robert Logan
Publication date: 20 October 2008.

Format: Hardback with dustjacket. 216pp. 360mmx250mmx20mm. Numerous b/w illustrations. 24 pages Colour plates. Endpaper Maps.
RRP inc. GST: $69.99.
ISBN: 978-0-9583315-5-5

When the first European colonists reached the top of the Bridle Path above Lyttelton they saw, on the far side of the Canterbury Plains, a range of mountains, snow-covered in winter and higher than any they had known in Britain. From the tussock uplands, soaring peaks, deep valleys and rugged gorges of these Southern Alps came the mighty braided river Maori called Waimakariri, but the new settlers called, for only a short time, the Courtenay. It would dominate the lives of many, it was a barrier to travel and, as they soon learned, its turbulent spring and summer floods were a threat to the city of Christchurch. But the Waimakariri valley also provided a gateway to the West Coast, via first the road built to tap the golden riches on the other side of the Alps and later the famous Midland railway; both were engineering marvels of their time.

From the peaks of the headwaters, where young mountaineers revelled in climbing and exploration, to the river’s mouth , the Waimakariri’s story is full of interest, and none has told it better, or in more fascinating detail, than the late Robert Logan. The author’s special knowledge of the river’s upper reaches gave him a unique insight into the early European explorers in the area, and his tireless research uncovered a great deal of previously unpublished material. In this facsimile edition of his famous 1987 work, out of print for many years, over 400 illustrations, many in colour, combine with more than 200,000 words to make Waimakariri: An Illustrated History the most comprehensive book ever written about a New Zealand river, its landscape and its people.

The book has been out of print for many years but still sits on the Christchurch City Libraries list of the 10 most borrowed New Zealand books. Second-hand copies are hard to find and fetch premium prices.
The original printer’s plates have long since disappeared so each page had to be individually scanned; this edition, printed in Hong Kong, is therefore a facsimile of the original. It has a new dust jacket and endpapers.

Available from:

Phillips & King Publishers
Private Bag 4748
Christchurch
Email: Brian Phillips - bpbooks@xtra.co.nz

Phone: 03 384 5242.