There have been several books written about nineteenth century Auckland, in particular those by Russell Stone, but until now there has been no overall history of twentieth century Auckland. This book by Paul Moon has just been published by Oratia Books ($45) and I was eagerly looking forward to reading it. I have reviewed one or two of Paul Moon's books in the distant past, have read others, and was looking forward to more from the professor of history at AUT. Certainly, 319 pages of text, 1421 endnotes, an extensive bibliography and index (although only of four pages) does sound impressive. There are no photographs, apart from the jacket covers, but too many would have detracted from the text.
When I wrote my 'North Shore; an illustrated history' in 2010, I hoped to raise the profile of the North Shore when it came to looking at the overall history of Auckland. Many earlier books and articles on Auckland had concentrated on the history of the Auckland isthmus and in my view neglected similar economic, demographic and social developments happening at the same time on the North Shore. After all, Devonport was as much a suburb of Auckland from the 1880s as others on the isthmus.
I agree that the North Shore population in the 1920s stretched only from Devonport northwards to Milford and Northcote Point (see page 108), but would also add Birkenhead Point. The growth of both the sugar works and local horticulture meant that the population of Birkenhead Borough was always more than that of Northcote Borough.
The North Shore was not a "sleepier" community (see page 199) at the time of the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in May 1959, but a rapidly expanding part of Auckland with just over 50,000 people living there. Takapuna Borough made up around 40% of that, with the remainder spread across Birkenhead, Northcote, East Coast Bays and Devonport boroughs, and the North Shore part of Waitemata County. The latter including Glenfield and Albany.
Living just round the corner from Frank Sargeson's residence on Esmonde Road, I regard it more as a 'bach' than a 'hut' (see page 173), but I have attached a photograph to allow readers to make their own judgement.
Well written and accessible, and despite the chapter headings merely describing decades, this isn't a chronology. Rather, this book successfully sketches many of the economic, demographic and particularly social changes across the geographically large Auckland metropolitan area over the last century. Of course, readers may wish that other topics were also included, or even excluded, but that is the nature of a history of an area. It is impossible to fit everything in, and decisions need to be made as to what should be in the book, certainly a process I had to go through when writing my 'North Shore; an illustrated history'.
In conclusion, this is a worthy addition to the history of the greater Auckland area. Hopefully more such books will appear over time.
david.verran@xtra.co.nz
