Story of a city

The social and physical changes in Auckland over the course of the last century are chronicled in a new history.

- PAUL LITTERICK

AUCKLAND: The twentieth-century story, by Paul Moon (Oratia, $45)

A history of Auckland is a rare thing. At least, a history mostly in words is unusual. A good number of histories mostly in photographs, derived from the newspaper archives and those of the city libraries, have been published. They say little, but show a lot. This new book, by Paul Moon, professor of history at Auckland University of Technology, shows nothing but says a lot. Rather than showing a photograph of bathers on Cheltenham Beach (with a caption noting they are wearing the Canadian bathing suit required by a bylaw of the borough council), the author will tell you of such events as the inaugural performance by the Dorian Choir on May 14, 1936, in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall, of Rossini's Stabat Mater. He has collated many events, minor and major, to convey what was going on, what the city was like at any particular time during the last century.