Oratia Books Catalogue is out now with an array of reading for 2026

The new Oratia Books Catalogue 2026 is out now in print and digital form.

This year's cover features art from the forthcoming picture book Mauri, by Merryn Jones and illustrated by Isobel Te Aho-White. 

The catalogue showcases 15 new titles for 2026, three which are out in stores already – starting with Philippa Werry's Wild Life: An Animal History of Aotearoa, the latest in The NZ Series, which published in February and has already reprinted. 

Tangaroa Paul and Luca Tu'avao Walton's Rere Atu ki Poronihia/Flight to Polynesia published in March, while this month's release, Ron Crosby's Keep Calm — We Are Coming, has been gaining nationwide publicity. 

Later in the year will bring a fantastic addition to Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird's New Bum! Series, a further te reo Māori reference work by Hona Black, a sumptuous art book by Richard Wolfe and a new edition of classic myths and legends from the Pacific. 

Click here to read more or download the PDF, and to request a print copy please email info@oratia.co.nz

Keep Calm — We Are Coming

 

Keep Calm — We Are Coming
The NZSAS in action in Afghanistan, 2009–2021

Ron Crosby

A gripping account of New Zealand’s military elite in action in Afghanistan, told in their own words

This special book takes the reader on a rare tour behind the lines of the New Zealand Special Air Service during its time in Afghanistan, based on extensive interviews and research by author Ron Crosby.

Keep Calm —We Are Coming briefly backgrounds the NZSAS role with Coalition forces supporting the Afghan government, before focusing on four engagements where many lives were at risk.

While primarily training Afghan forces in Kabul, the Kiwis were called upon to respond to a series of ‘spectacular attacks’ by heavily-armed Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests and determined to inflict major casualties on civilians.

In the words of those who were there, Crosby tells how the NZSAS resolved three devastating attacks by terrorists in Kabul between 2009 and 2012 — at the Indian Guesthouse, Intercontinental Hotel and British Council.

The book then relates how the NZSAS returned to help evacuate New Zealanders from the chaos of Kabul Airport in 2021 as the Taliban took over.

This fast-paced book —illustrated with 32 pages of colour photos from the attacks and the airport – reveals how a courageous group of Kiwis saved hundreds of lives in extremely 

dangerous conditions.

Author Ron Crosby at the book's launch in Auckland

Keep Calm — We Are Coming is available in good booksellers nationwide, in time for Anzac Day 2026 commemorations.

The author

Ron Crosby is a well-known author of New Zealand history, including The Musket Wars, The Forgotten Wars, Te Kooti’s Last Foray and NZSAS: The First Fifty Years. He enjoyed a long career as a barrister, and was a member of the Waitangi Tribunal for 13 years. Resident in Blenheim, Ron has intermittently spent many years writing the current book; see www.roncrosby.co.nz.

Publication: 2 April 2026  |  ISBN: 9781990042997  |  RRP $45.00

Paperback with flaps, 240 x 160 mm portrait, 260 pages, 

b&w with 4 x 8-page colour sections