Memoirs

ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG NATURALIST by David Attenborough, Hachette.

Learn about the beginning of David Attenborough’s remarkable career in wildlife documentaries as he recounts the expeditions he took for the first series of TV show Zoo Quest. These travels in 1954 took him to Guyana, Indonesia and Paraguay, both to film the animals in their natural environment and to bring some back for the London Zoo’s collection. Knowing what the now 91-year-old went on to achieve, this eminently readable memoir is a fascinating step back in time.

DRAWN OUT: A SERIOUSLY FUNNY MEMOIR by Tom Scott, Allen & Unwin.

Not many people have been banned from China by a prime minister, but Kiwi cartoonist and writer Tom Scott was the recipient of that particular glory during his life as a political commentator for publications like the Listener and The Dominion Post. His job got him up close and personal with key political figures at home and abroad, and this memoir is as much a history of his famous comics as it is a warm, funny and occasionally foul-mouthed love letter to journalism during that time.

EDMUND HILLARY, A BIOGRAPHY by Michael Gill, Potton & Burton.

Sir Edmund’s story is widely known but what makes this biography stand out is that it has been written by a close friend of the legendary climber. Michael Gill joined Hillary on many of his expeditions and was also involved in his aid work in the Himalayas during their five-decade friendship. He writes not only from personal experience but also from his access to the Hillary family archives. The result is an insightful look at the humanity of a great Kiwi hero.