Books by Michael Bassett

One of New Zealand's oldest family-owned wineries finished this year's harvest on a high, as they pulled out the wine glasses to celebrate 100 years in the game. Babich Wines, which owns a winery and 300 hectares of vines in Marlborough's Awatere, Waihopai and Wairau valleys, hav...e been harvesting and making wine since 1915. This year marks the 100th vintage since founder Josip Babich made and bottled his first wine - selling it in cask, under the name, Babich Brothers.
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As Auckland grew more rapidly than the rest of New Zealand, its city council emerged as the country's premier local authority. In 1989 when the whole of the Auckland isthmus containing 10 local authorities was amalgamated into one, the Mayor of Auckland became the most significan...t local leader. However, rapid migration from within New Zealand and from overseas changed the city's dynamics. Urban sprawl was brought under control and the inner city that had emptied its occupants into the suburbs regenerated. The political make-up of the Auckland City Council altered in response to the new challenges. Here historian Michael Bassett, who himself was an Auckland City Councillor in the 1970s and Minister of Local Government in the 1980s, explains the ways in which the enlarged council dealt with the issues of the following 21-year period before Auckland's 'super city' came into force in November 2010. It is a story of challenges, change and fluctuating levels of leadership, and of the council staff, some with exceptional skills. The Auckland City of 2010 with its Sky Tower, Viaduct renewal, Britomart transport centre and a rapidly regenerating Wynyard Quarter was a different place from what it had been 21 years earlier. The book is based on archival research and interviews with many of the main players and onlookers. It provides a snapshot of a metropolis of growing international significance gradually shaping up to occupy a more significant place not only in New Zealand but in the wider world.
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Sir Joseph Ward (1856-1930) was the leading political figure during the forty-year life of the Liberal Party in New Zealand. He was a member of Ballance's first Cabinet, twice Prime Minister (1906-12 and 1928-30), and was still a Cabinet Minister at the time of his death. This li...vely biography is the story of an ambitious first-generation New Zealander of Irish Catholic parents who spent more than half a century in local and central government politics, influencing the directions taken in many areas of New Zealand life. It contains much new material about Ward's private business dealings, his flourishing Southland company, his bankruptcy and his remarkable rehabilitation. Michael Bassett reveals a genial, courteous, fast-talking man of vision who nevert
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Mikey McGee was a happy-go-lucky boy until two monsters named Batrocks and Greenie came into his bedroom one night. They scared and troubled the boy, night after night. Finally, Mikey told his dad about the monsters, and like a good father, he helped Mikey understand that Batrock...s and Greenie were not real but dream.
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