By Quinn Berentson. Heavy hardcovered Book In Dust Jacket, First Edition 2012,Colour and Black and White Photographs, illustrations, maps, paintings etc, 300 pages, Published By Craig Potton Publishing Nelson. A Near Fine Copy. Only Five Copies on ABE Books ranging from NZ$731-89 To $808-92 +. Wonderfully produced and illustrated award winning book. 'New Zealand's moa were perhaps the most unusual family of birds that ever lived, a clan of feathered monsters that developed in isolation for millions of years. When humans finally discovered these islands the giant birds were wiped out in the blink of an eye, and were a distant memory by the time European explorers arrived. So it was that the discovery and identification of their bones in the 1840s was a worldwide sensation, claimed by many to be the zoological find of the century. But nothing would ever be straightforward about the moa, and this book begins by recounting the story of the moa's stunning discovery by science, and the unlikely series of people and events behind it. For 170 years the giant birds refused to be pinned down by natural historians, and created controversy and confusion about every aspect of their biology. It is only in the last decade that the answers to the moa's mysteries have finally become clear, revealing an amazing story of how New Zealand's very own 'monster' evolved, lived and disappeared from the Earth forever. This is an important book that richly recounts the life and death of our legendary bird. Packed with a fantastic range of illustrations, Moa is an accessible and substantial book on this national icon, filling a significant gap in our natural history literature'