NON - FICTION

General Kamel Sachet was one of Saddam Hussein's commanders in his Special Forces, in charge of Kuwait City during Desert Storm, and a Governor in the province of Maysan. Over the course of four years in Baghdad, Wendell Steavenson came to know Sachet, his wife, and their nine children closely, and began to unravel their stories. The Weight of A Mustard Seed tells of a father with a glittering military career, a decorated hero with a private conscience; of a wife, once free-thinking and ambitious, who becomes progressively shuttere... read more

In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, Elisabeth Tova Bailey shares an inspiring and intimate story of her uncommon encounter with a Neohelix albolabris - a common woodland snail. While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater understanding of the interconnections between species and her own human place in the... read more

Former CIA operative Robert Baer here exposes for the first time the true extent of Iran's tightening grip on the Middle East and the world's energy corridor, the Persian Gulf - revealing that the Shia nation has effectively checkmated the United States and other leading countries in a new global power play. Imagine an Iran that controls the world's oil, that has brought other countries in the Middle East under its flag, that uses its terrorist groups and military forces to undermine any country in the region that resists it. As... read more

An astonishing new scientific discovery called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the adult human brain is fixed and unchanging. It is, instead, able to change its own structure and function, even into old age. Psychiatrist and researcher Norman Doidge travelled around the US to meet the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity, and the people whose lives they've transformed. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole; a woman labelled retarded who cured her defic... read more

This book describes the daily scene of heroic adventures most people only see in action movies. Stockmen and heli-musterers who chased wild bulls and buffalo through the unfenced scrub.

Do you know how much water you use each day - not just the 5 litres you may drink, or the 150 litres you guzzle to cook, wash, and flush the toilet with. It takes around 500 litres of water to grow the wheat to produce a loaf of bread. A staggering 11,000 litres to feed enough cows to make a quarter-pound hamburger. You could take 25 baths in the water it takes to grow the cotton for just one T-shirt... The South East of Britain has less water per capita than the Sudan or Ethiopia and while there is less and less rain our deman... read more

In this lavishly illustrated book, 20 of New Zealand's top landscape architects and designers offer their wisdom and advice on landscaping with native plants. These personal narratives showcase some of our country's most beautiful out-door environments, from private gardens to public recreation land, urban and industrial spaces, and even farmland. Stunning photographs by John Maillard capture the uniqueness and splendour of each location, from Kaeo in the Far North to Queenstown in the south.

Sex is not something people discuss much in New Zealand. We don't often hear conversations about what couples are doing to keep their relationship strong and alive. We often hear complaints about partners' inadequacies or announcements of relationships ending. There is no one right way to build a healthy, happy sexual relationship. It's a living ongoing process that takes place through many interactions and conversations over time as you learn to know each other and how to be together. This book is designed as a manual to guide you... read more

All that cooking, cleaning, darning, sewing, looking after sick children, looking good for your hubby when he came drifting in after a day at the office...it's always been a tough life as a housewife. This affectionate romp through women's toil and trouble over the past 120 years puts housework under the spotlight and shows the myriad ways in which resourceful New Zealand women dealt with the tyranny of keeping house, and keeping sane.

Climbing Roses is the definitive guide to th ese attractive and versatile plants, covering the history of the climbing rose, a guide to varieties and flower shapes, and how to use climbing roses to best advantage in the garde n. '

This practical, inspiring series tells you all you need to know about your favorite plants, from their origins to how to select and maintain the best plants for your needs. A comprehensive introduction is followed by a "Plant Catalogue", botanical descriptions, planting ideas and flowering times.

If dinosaurs hadn't been wiped out 65 million years ago could we share earth with the biggest creatures ever to have breathed? Using expert research and amazing artwork this book puts these fascinating creatures in context today. A fascinating read.

In the summer of 2009, Alain de Botton will be invited by the owners of Heathrow airport to become their first ever Writer in Residence. He will be installed in the middle of Terminal 5 on a raised platform with a laptop connected to screens, enabling passengers to see what he is writing and to come and share their stories. He will meet travellers from around the world, and will be given unprecedented access to wander the airport and speak with everyone from window cleaners and baggage handlers to air traffic controllers and cabin ... read more

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Why is the human imagination to blame for the worst crimes of the twentieth century? Why is progress a pernicious myth? Why is contemporary atheism just a hangover from Christian faith? John Gray, author of "Straw Dogs" and "Black Mass", is one of the most original and iconoclastic thinkers of our time. In this pugnacious and brilliantly readable collection of essays from across his career, he smashes through humanity's most cherished beliefs to overturn our view of the world, and our place in it. If humans are different from other... read more

Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in economics, shows how today's crisis parallels the events that caused the Great Depression - and explains what it will take to avoid catastrophe. In 1999, in "The Return of Depression Economics", Paul Krugman surveyed the economic crises that had swept across Asia and Latin America, and warned that those crises were a warning for all of us: like diseases that have become resistant to antibiotics, the economic maladies that caused the Great Depression were making a comeback. In the year... read more

John Bradshaw, one of the world's leading dog experts, brings us a compelling insight into what dogs would ask us for, if only they knew how. The dog has been mankind's faithful companion for tens of thousands of years, yet today finds itself in crisis throughout the western world. Until just over a hundred years ago, most dogs worked for their living, and each of the many breeds had become well suited, over countless generations, to the task for which they were bred. Now, in their purely domestic roles we fail to understand their ... read more

Takes an original approach to the history of humanity, using objects which previous civilisations have left behind them, often accidentally, as prisms through which we can explore past worlds and the lives of the men and women who lived in them.

As you're spreading honey on your morning toast you probably aren't thinking about arms funding, terrorists, corporate scandals, contamination, smuggling rackets or environmental distaster. But according to the CIA, the honey business is crucial to Al Qaeda's operation, Chinese honey has been found to contain bee-drugs...