New Zealand Through Time

New Zealand's isolation began over 80 million years ago when, powered by mighty geological forces, the land mass rifted away from ancient Gondwana and drifted into the Pacific with its precious cargo of wildlife. The natural history of the shaky isles and their surrounding seas, the dramatic geology and unique plants and animals, is the subject of New Zealand through Time. Artist Ronald Cometti portrays the past in 16 chapters, each containing an essay, a full-page feature painting and a number of smaller illustrations, which together create a magnificent gallery that will be of interest to anyone from young teen to adult who is curious to learn about the past. The chapters include: The Long Isolation Begins; Beneath Cretaceous Seas; When the World Nearly Ended; Neogene Reptiles; New Zealand Moa; The Rise of the Southern Alps; The Ice Ages; Taupo's Volcano Erupts; Auckland's Volcanoes; Recently Lost Birds; and, The Hawke's Bay Earthquake.