The Spirit of Coromandel by Veronica Black Photographs by Martin Barriball

The rugged and beautiful wilderness of the Coromandel Peninsula has a special magic of many New Zealanders.

And yet in the past the Coromandel has been exploited more intensely than most other areas of New Zealand. In the (19th) century the Pakeha felled the giant Kauri and burnt the forests and undermined the land in search of kauri gum and gold, taking over a land which only decades before had supported a large Maori population.

Now there is another wave of occupation - this time artists and craftspeople, older folk in retirement, young people seeking an alternative lifestyle, plus holidaymakers by the thousand.

For author Veronica Black the desire to protect the peninsula from a new era of exploitation is a powerful one. "Our ignorance and lack of respect for our environment is suicidal" she says.

In this book the writing of Veronica Black and the photographs of Martin Barriball evoke the wairua, the spirit, of Coromandel with a new historical perspective, a cry of sadness for the past and a deep concern for the future.

Soft cover, 116 pages.

First edition 1985.

Very Good condition