By Grant Howard. Paintings By Colin C Wynn. In Oblong Hardcovers in Dust Jacket, First Edition 1991, Colour and Black and White Photographs, illustrations, Paintings and drawings, 152 Pages, Published By Grantham House Publishing Wellington. A Near Fine Copy. 'Although Maori and, much later, white settlers came to this country by sea, and the surrounding oceans have always been closely linked to New Zealand's development, the Navy did not become an integral part of our history until Lieutenant James Cook, RN, stepped ashore at Kaiti Beach, Gisborne, on 8 October 1769. The Navy has been a presence in NZ waters ever since, first as the Royal Navy, then as the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy and, over the past 50 years, as the Royal New Zealand Navy. The Navy's original task in NZ was to support exploration and scientific research, but since those early days the service has fulfilled many other roles- maintain law and order, helping to establish British sovereignty, charting New Zealand's long coastline, fighting in two world wars, performing daring rescues in cruel seas, patrolling the nation's fishing grounds. Marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Royal New Zealand Navy, this magnificent book documents more than 200 years of naval service in NZ. In the words of naval historian Grant Howard, the splendid paintings of Colin C Wynn (and others) and a wealth of fascinating photographs, the book pays a fitting tribute to a naval heritage of which all New Zealanders can be proud'