Remembering those whose lives were shaped by war

The approach of Anzac Day signals a time to remember the millions of people who were affected by twentieth-century wars, and those whose lives and lands are still ravaged by invasion and civil conflict. 

Oratia Books has a firm commitment to telling the stories of New Zealanders at war, not to glorify the events but better to understand and learn from the experience. 

Children's books such as When Dad Came Home touchingly retell the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on returning soldiers, and the role of family love in healing. 

Creating reconciliation and friendship from the shared experienced of Gallipoli is the theme  of our latest children's book, The Water Bottle, a collaboration between Kiwi author Philippa Werry and Turkish illustrator Burak Akbay.

For older readers, the most recent of Christopher Pugsley's masterful works of military history narrates New Zealand's last battle of the First World War as it happens. Le Quesnoy 1918 is an on-the-ground account of this daring capture of the French town of Le Quesnoy, vividly relating the realities of warfare. 

A valuable companion to Pugsley's new edition of Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story, Matthew Wright's The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front analyses what it was like for New Zealand soldiers at the two main battle fronts where they fought, and frames it with the social effects back home.

We will remember them this 25 April. 

For more reading, check the Oratia Books website.

Great reception for Matthew Wright's new book as Anzac Day approaches

The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front has made a strong showing in the media and bookstores since publication on 6 April.

This past Saturday 22nd, Messines Bookshop in Featherston hosted a launch at which author Matthew Wright spoke.

Matthew Wright signing a copy for Viv Napier, Mayor of South Wairarapa 

A good crowd turned out to this young bookshop that specialises in military history.

Also on the weekend, the New Zealand Listener came out with a major extract from the book. Here's how Matthew's writing about the Passchendaele campaign is billed on the Noted website:

In Flanders fields

New Zealand’s most lethal military campaign was on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. On the campaign’s worst day, a century ago this year, 845 Kiwis died trying to take a small Belgian village. by Matthew Wright

The new issue of the New Zealand Listener featuring Matthew's work 

Get your copy of the Listener to read more.

Historian Gavin McLean gave the book a very positive review in the Otago Daily Times books section on the weekend - describing it as 'a fine introduction to a war that still shapes our world'.

Matthew had earlier talked about the book with Terry Toner on Radio Southland's book show.

And for information about The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front, click
here.

Matthew Wright's authoritative First World War history publishes today

Out today, The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front has been praised as "well written, superbly organised, balanced and up to date" and "an ideal introduction on New Zealand's encounter with the maelstrom of the First World War".

On sale from today in all good booksellers, Matthew Wright's major history balances taut writing with extensive illustrations.

A sample of the photos gives a flavour of what our soldiers faced during the Gallipoli and Western Front campaigns, and the impact these events had back home.

The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front | ISBN: 978-0-947506-19-3 |  

RRP $49.99  |  Paperback with flaps, 240 x 170 mm, 392 pages

The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front

‘The best and most comprehensive book on New Zealand’s experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front.’ — Professor Tom Brooking

In this compelling illustrated history, Matthew Wright conveys the momentous impact that the First World War wrought both on the front lines and back home – changes that continue to echo in twenty-first century New Zealand.

In The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front, historian Matthew Wright goes to the heart of how the First World War affected the lives of ordinary New Zealanders. The book analyses what it was like for New Zealand soldiers at the two main battle fronts where they fought, and frames it with the social effects back home.

Beginning with an outline of pre-war New Zealand society, Wright portrays the extraordinary world of war into which its young men plunged as they entered the baptism of fire at Gallipoli. The end of innocence that the withdrawal from the Dardanelles implied led to a harder, more fatalistic approach in the theatre of mechanised death that was the Western Front. By war’s end, hope and glory had faded, replaced by a new view of military heroism – in a country forever changed.

Click here to find out more and to order the book.