Reviewed by JOSEPH BEAUMONT - The Southland Times

This highly readable account of life on the front line with the British forces in Afghanistan is a book for our times. In years gone by, many a soldier recorded the minutiae of his fighting day in a diary, some eventually published to great acclaim.

Reviewed by ROSEMARIE SMITH - The Southland Times

If Southlanders felt shaky after July's earthquake, they should spare a thought for the men atop Farewell Spit lighthouse during the 1929 Murchison quake.

Reviewed by BARRY HARCOURT - The Southland Times

I was immediately intimidated with the thoughts of reviewing a scientific publication on an island I knew nothing about.

Reviewed by MAREE FIELD - The Southland Times

Ian Brodie is best-known for his guides to the Lord of the Rings and Narnia locations.

Reviewed by ROSEMARIE SMITH - The Southland Times

This is an update of the popular 2004 title and, as asserted by a quote from Michael King on the jacket, it's an excellent book of its type.

Reviewed by NAIDA MULLIGAN - The Southland Times

Anyone considering doing a nature tour of Godzone should take this book with them.

Reviewed by JUDY CLEINE - The Southland Times

You don't have to be a train buff to enjoy this book, though if you have memories of joyful plumes of smoke chugging across the landscape, or of running to stand under a viaduct (Caroline Bay) as a hissing spitting train thunders by overhead, it helps. (In my opinion diesel doesn't cut it.)

Reviewed by F MULLIGAN - The Southland Times

Off the Beaten Track is a guide to a selection of walking tracks from around the country.

Reviewed by JILLIAN ALLISON-AITKEN - The Southland Times

We are fortunate to live in an incredibly picturesque country and that unrivalled beauty is to the fore in this stunning book that shows New Zealand's development since European settlement.

Reviewed by JOHN CUTT - The Southland Times

History, when presented by a writer of Neville Peat's calibre, is an enjoyable as well an informative read.

Reviewed by HELEN BISSLAND - The Southland Times

In Going Bush: New Zealanders and nature in the 20th Century, Kirstie Ross has expanded her MA thesis about the cultural history of New Zealand nature into a book.

Reviewed by JUDE MADDEN - The Southland Times

From Balclutha to Niagara Falls to Invercargill to Lake Hauroko, from Ocean Beach to Ocean Beach, this book is full of interesting facts, history and directions on main routes, less well-known roads, and railways.

The Southland Times

Fiordland, New Zealand's Untouched Wilderness, is photographer Hallet and journalist Martin's first book together and a record of all the little hidden things, tomtits, moreporks and crested penguins that you don't usually see as you flit by in a bus, and also all the big things that take your breath away. 

Reviewed by NAIDA MULLIGAN - The Southland Times

This is "Big Al's" fourth title and is sure to appeal to any hunting, fishing New Zealanders, and perhaps many besides.