Co-winner of the 2022 Ernest Scott Prize
Selected by the New Zealand Listener as one of the best books of 2021!
Highly Commended in the inaugural Public Environmental History Prize from the Australian & Aotearoa New Zealand Environmental History Network
Endorsements
'This book digs deep to tell complex, fascinating stories. It makes me want to go to these places and not only see but feel the mauri of places that Lucy Mackintosh has represented here in her words.'
Melissa Matutina Williams, author of Panguru and the City: Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua
'A marvellous book that illuminates the stories of these much loved landscapes in new and striking ways. After reading Shifting Grounds you see these places differently, and treasure them all the more.'
Anne Salmond, Distinguished Professor of Māori Studies and Anthropology, University of Auckland
'In this landmark work, Lucy Mackintosh enriches our understanding of both the continual remaking of place and the inescapable legacies of empire and colonisation.'
Tony Ballantyne, Professor of History, University of Otago
'Shifting Grounds speaks to the thirst for new histories, histories of Aotearoa New Zealand and histories of Auckland, which are scarce. This wonderful book makes place speak.'
Charlotte Macdonald, Professor of History, Victoria University of Wellington
'The cultural landscapes of Tāmaki Makaurau are evidence of the rich human history of the district. Lucy Mackintosh's book brings these places and their stories to light.'
Deidre Brown, Professor of Architecture, University of Auckland
Comment
'Drawing on history, mātauranga Māori, archaeology, botany, geography, and material culture, [Mackintosh] finds in these varied landscapes fresh evidence of long human habitation, of cultural displacement,and trauma, and of the importance of place as “a generator of identity”.'
Vaughan Yarwood, New Zealand Geographic
'Second is Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, by Lucy Mackintosh. Through my long-standing interest in early Auckland history, especially the diarist Sarah Mathew, I'm reasonably familiar with the period's literature and imagery, but this magnificent landmark book does indeed shift the ground, enriching how we experience and appreciate three key sites: Pukekawa/Auckland Domain, Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill and the Ōtuataua Stonefields at Ihumātao. Bravo!'
Tessa Duder, Canvas
'A New Zealand history book of the finest kind, written in a way that is interesting and informative. [Shifting Grounds] could be read by anyone with an interest in New Zealand history'
Terry Toner, Radio Southland
'Lucy uses these defining landscapes to illuminate Auckland’s connected past, present, and future. The book is an invitation to learn of this. It informs us of significant locations with rich histories that have been ignored in favour of manufactured colonial narratives. Lucy takes the audience on a journey and allows us to see and explore our city with new perspectives and knowledge of its history.'
Omni Arona, Craccum
'Shifting Grounds is a book that any Aucklander with a desire to deepen their connection to the city’s landscape should read. It will enliven the past and enrich the present and perhaps even shape the future.'
Kennedy Warne, E-Tangata
‘Lucy Mackintosh, a curator at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, starts with the ground “and works upwards and outwards” in this fascinating, deeply researched and handsomely designed hardback, focusing on three sites of complex and revealing histories: Pukekawa/Auckland Domain, Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill and the Ōtuataua Stonefields at Ihumātao near the airport.’
NZ Listener
'There aren’t many written histories of Tāmaki Makaurau. This one’s a beauty...developed with care and with the support of a wide range of Māori advisers, beautifully designed and illustrated and written with great storytelling flair. It’s a seduction: an invitation to see the city afresh, and enjoy.'
Simon Wilson, NZ Herald
A 'revelatory new history book... In [Shifting Grounds] there's this lovely sense that history is stories not just of what happened on the land but with the land.'
Kennedy Warne, RNZ
Media
'Telling the untold histories of Tāmaki Makaurau', University of Auckland, 17 June 2022.
'Lucy Mackintosh explores complex local histories of Tāmaki Makaurau', Tess Redgrave, Ingenio, 13 May 2022.
'Ockham week: The book of Auckland' Emmy Rākete, Newsroom, 10 May 2022.
''Unknown histories': How a museum curator hopes to highlight Auckland's past' Rob Stock, Stuff, 13 February 2022.
'Learning to look Tāmaki Makaurau in the face: A review of Shifting Grounds', Anna Rawhiti-Connell, The Spinoff, 31 January 2022.
'Book Review: The Book Show', Terry Toner, Radio Southland, 22 December 2021.
'Review and Q&A: Shifting Grounds by Lucy Mackintosh – Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau', Omni Arona, Craccum, Summer Edition 2022.
'Christmas: the year's best illustrated books', Steve Braunias, Newsroom, 13 December 2021.
'Entangled with the land', Kennedy Warne, E-Tangata, 6 December 2021.
'"If you need a monument, look around you": Rethinking Auckland history', Simon Wilson, NZ Herald, 20 November 2021 (Paywall).
'The Shifting Grounds of Tamaki Makaurau', RNZ, 16 November 2021.
'Auckland history: Stories of what lies beneath', Nevil Gibson, NBR, 14 November 2021.
'Review: Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland', David Veart, Kete Books, 11 November 2021.
'Why Ihumātao truly is a piece of New Zealand's soul', Lucy Mackintosh, The Guardian, 24 September 2019.
'Unearthing the history of Ihumātao, where the land tells stories', Lucy Mackintosh, RNZ, 19 August 2019.
