Awa Press: 35 books

A provocative sequel to The Torchlight List, this book examines the answers that thinkers throughout the ages—from Plato in ancient Greece to contemporary psychologists and scientists—have proposed for life’s great questions: Do human beings have free will? Is a good society possible? Is patriotism...

Going all the way back to the Roman legend of a shepherd whose iron-studded boots stuck to the rocks, this book charts the history of the earth's magnetism, which intrigued and stumped scientists and ordinary people for centuries. Absorbing and accessible, it is a lively study of what exactly magnetic...

Natural history museums contain many thousands of zoological specimens and each has a tale to tell - often involving extraordinary people, daring explorations, unquenchable scientific curiosity, and strange coincidences. This perfectly presented book, with its engaging pictures, is rich in stories...

Full of enthusiasm, this guide sets out to convince non-believers that rugby is the world's greatest game.

Beer — it's the world's favorite alcoholic drink and its popularity is soaring. It has only four key ingredients but fearless brewers are adding countless others, from chocolate and coconut to beardgrown yeast, seaweed and stag semen. As Alice Galletly surveys the growing array in a supermarket,...

For this brilliant book, author Craig Simons visited many of the places and spoke to many of the people impacted by China’s explosive economic growth and voracious appetite for resources. From New Guinea, where great forests are being felled and rare birds threatened to meet China’s demand for...

Released for the 2004 Melbourne Cup, this guide provides astute observations and hilarious insights for both racing amateurs and seasoned racing and betting pros. Celebrating "the sport of kings," this insider's view explores the personalities, scandals, oddities, joys of ownership, social...

This comprehensive overview reveals the secrets of one of the most enduring and soothing spirits—from the miraculous process of turning grapes into wine and how the shape of a glass affects its taste, to who decides if a wine is a winner and what makes it healthy to drink.

From the perspective of a passionate New Zealand columnist, this diverse collection from Steve Braunias is a provocative commentary on society, politics, and the recession.  From lambasting airhead politicians, apostrophe vigilantes, and purveyors of awful food to reflecting upon his experiences...

In this captivating autobiography, the author magically weaves the story of his life-from a Banks Peninsula boyhood to the Executive Wing of Parliament-with the seasons of his Wellington garden and mouth-watering recipes from his kitchen.

This marvelous collection of travel stories from the South Pacific reveals Paul Gauguin's shocking Tahitian secrets, retraces the last tragic days of Robert Louis Stevenson, and recounts the author's own haunting by Herman Melville, as well as his attempts to seduce the Slovenian Olympic ski team in the Cook Islands.

From the Southern Cross to the mysterious dark companions of the Dog Stars, the constellations in this guide will help readers see the night sky in a whole new way, allowing them to enjoy the vast beauty of the solar system.

Every day millions of people enter virtual worlds through video games, which are now the fastest-growing form of entertainment and are played by young and old alike. This account unlocks this amazing world, providing insight into what makes video games so fascinating and exploring the emotions involved...

Winner: New Zealand Post Book Award, Best First Book, Non-fiction On a sunny afternoon in November 2010, a massive explosion rocked the underground Pike River coal mine, deep in a mountain range in New Zealand's South Island. More than an hour and a half later, two ashen men stumbled from the...