Nature & Environment

This book will transport you to the most stunning places in the world. Discover one-of-a-kind natural paradises and awesome manmade structures around the globe, from Africa to Asia and Oceania, from Europe to North and South America.

In 2008, YouTube.com featured an extraordinary film clip that soon became an internet phenomenon. It showed the emotional reunion of two young men and their pet lion, Christian, after they had left him in Africa with Born Free's George Adamson, who would introduce him into his rightful home in the wild. "A Lion Called Christian" relates how Anthony 'Ace' Bourke and John Rendall visited London...

This highly regarded book has been in print since 2004 and has proved popular with tourists, students and ordinary New Zealanders as a lively and reliable short history of New Zealand. It has proved a handy and succinct alternative to bigger books such as Michael King's The Penguin History of New Zealand. The timeline at the end of the book has proved particularly popular. Gordon McLauchlan has...

The 20th century has seen a runaway growth in human consumption, which has placed a colossal load on the very elements of life. Ronald Wright explains how our current predicament is as old as civilisation - a 10,000 year experiment we have seldom controlled.

The truth about the climate crisis is an inconvenient one that means we are going to have to change the way we live our lives. Our climate crisis may at times appear to be happening slowly, but in fact it has become a true planetary emergency and we must recognise that we are facing a crisis. So why is it that some leaders seem not to hear the clarion warnings? Are they resisting the truth...

The bestselling team of Fernyhough and Bougen (The Road to Castle Hill: A High Country Love Story ) are back with a wonderful book for children that's bound to become a classic. It is the true story of Ben and Mark Smith, aged eight and six, who live with their parents Richard and Sheri on Mount White Station, near Arthurs Pass, one of the biggest and most remote stations in the South Island - 45...

"Clean Breaks" unearths 500 unique experiences and new ways to travel that make a real difference to the lives of local people and the planet. It lets you discover a wealth of new adventures from sleeping in houseboats in Kerala and witnessing the zebra migration in Botswana to taking the train-hotel from Paris to Madrid. Whether you fancy living like a local in a tipi with Native...

Steve Braunias writes: 'When a black-backed gull flew past the balcony of my girlfriend's apartment in downtown Auckland on a sultry evening last summer, it came so close to where I was standing, so suddenly and dazzlingly, a white flash against the black night, I was bowled over with happiness. I thought: 'Birds, everywhere.' That became the opening sentence for my next Sunday column. 'Birds are...

A personal view of the natural world "I daresay my mind would wander over a range of animals remarkable for the extravagance of their reproductive techniques" - Sir David Attenborough, when asked which animal he would like to be if he returned to Earth This fantasy reincarnation was reserved only when in "racy" company, said the distinguished wildlife broadcaster. But in more sober company, he...

There have been any number of urgent scientific reports in recent years emphasising just how dire the future looks and how little time we have left to act. But around the world only a few have truly faced up to the facts about global warming. This book is about why we have ignored those warnings, so that now it is too late. It is a book about the frailties of the human species: our strange...

Whether you love diving around submerged ships, admire marine life in its natural habitat, seek spectacular underwater geology, are a novice or experienced diver, Top New Zealand Dive Sites has plenty to offer everyone! New Zealand's islands are like no other in the world. They extend through a wide latitude range, their 15,000 kilometres of coastline surrounded by three bodies of water: the...