A second book by Taupō writer, Tom Clarke, has just been released.

Entitled Great Tales of Aotearoa, it is the second in a series of books by the writer recounting forgotten or unknown stories from pioneering New Zealand and significant events from the early 20th century.

Tom is a former journalist and before turning to writing non-fiction books, spent five decades working in broadcasting and media across TV, radio, print journalism, PR, marketing, and business management.

His debut narrative history book, Our Untold Stories: Extraordinary Tales From New Zealand's Past was published by Bateman Books in 2023 as a collection of stories of forgotten local history, human tragedies, acts of bravery, and famous firsts.

This second follow-up volume gathers 30 additional deep-dive stories covering everything from early pioneering ventures and high treason, to survival tales and the early 20th century fad for using radium, an intensely radioactive metallic element, as a health tonic and medical cure-all.

Tom says the stories reflect the indomitable spirit of our forebears and the enormous changes that have taken place in the beliefs, attitudes, opinions and thinking of New Zealanders since the earliest days of European presence.

“The stories very much reflect the enormous social changes that have occurred in New Zealand society since the 1840s.

“They also catalogue the courage, resilience, endurance and ingenuity of our European forebears, and the incredible and sometime unbelievable bravery and achievements of some of them.

“By social change I mean things like Māori being sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered on charges of treason, and heresy charges being levelled against clergymen: by courage and resilience I refer to John and Christina Polsen of Morven Hills and the tragic loss of their newborn twins whose bodies they buried in snow until the frozen ground thawed sufficiently for them to be properly interred; and by bravery, I refer to our seventh Governor-General, Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, unquestionably the most courageous New Zealander ever, appropriately dubbed the “salamander of the British Empire” by Winstone Churchill for his leadership of New Zealand and Allied forces during World War II.

“There are stories of New Zealand’s growing pains and its struggles to establish itself and how we almost became a republic in the process, and a story that seems incredible today - the new health drink fad in Rotorua – radioactive water.”

He says the stories illustrate that life for early settlers was a lot less complicated than our own lives in the 21st century, but their lives were also “tremendously difficult, harsh, cruel and unforgiving.

“I hope that in reading the stories, we get a better understanding of the thought processes, the beliefs and attitudes of our forebears, and in turn we’ll better appreciate the lives that we lead in the 21st century, for which we owe these ancestors an enormous debt of gratitude.”

Great Tales of Aotearoa: Extraordinary stories from New Zealand’s Past by Tom Clarke, published by Bateman Books, RRP $39.99 is currently available in Taupō bookstores, and all other bookstores nationwide or online.