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BRIDGET WILLIAMS BOOKS

Sorrows of a Century
Interpreting Suicide in New Zealand, 19002000

John C. Weaver
Focusing on New Zealands comprehensive and accessible coroners records, John Weaver analyses some twelve thousand cases to determine the social and cultural factors that contribute to suicide rates. He examines the official investigations into sudden deaths, placing them within the context of major events and societal changes, and turns to witnesses statements, suicide notes and medical records to remark on prevention strategies. A profoundly moving account of loss and suffering, and an insightful assessment of psychiatry and psychology in the last century. This is a very important study of a pressing national problem, one deserving of widespread attention. John Dawson, Faculty of Law, University of Otago Sorrows of a Century makes important contributions to New Zealand history, to histories of suicide, and to the wider scholarship of historical and archival methods. Impressively researched and thoroughly analysed, it is clearly the work of an accomplished historian and writer. Catharine Coleborne, History Programme, School of Social Sciences, University of Waikato
RRP$59.99 | 229 x 152 mm | 456 pages ISBN 9781927277232 | ISTC A022013000006284 Print publication March 2014 E-book publication March 2014 Co-published with McGill-Queens University Press

KeY sales PoiNts

Suicide is one of New Zealands most pressing social issues. A vast quantity of evidence is presented compassionately, carefully and with great skill. The work offers practical insights on prevention and is an important contribution to the understanding of suicide in New Zealand. This is a remarkable social history: voices and narratives from across twentieth-century New Zealand that speak to the challenges of life on these islands. The author is available for events and interviews from February to June 2014.

Publisher: Bridget Williams Books PO Box 12474 | Wellington 6144 | New Zealand +64 4 473 8128 | info@bwb.co.nz | www.bwb.co.nz Distributor: David Bateman Ltd PO Box 100 242, North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland 0745 | (09) 415 7664 extn 0 janetteb@bateman.co.nz Sales Manager: Bryce Gibson (09) 415 7664 extn 811 | bryceg@bateman.co.nz Sales Representatives: Shane Delaney South Island, South Auckland, North Shore, Northland | 021 626 746 shaned@bateman.co.nz Ian Sturrock Wellington, Auckland Central, North Island 021 393 025 | ians@bateman.co.nz

Contents
Acknowledgments Preface Introduction 1 Long-Term Perspectives: Chronology, Gender, Life-Course, and Method 2 Relationships: Sex, Alcohol, and Violence, 190080 3 Dark Days and Golden Weather: Despair and Work, 190080 4 Life Diminished: Illness and Trauma, 19002000 5 Mental Illnesses: Representation and Therapy, 19002000 6 The Youth Suicide Panic: Framing a Mental Health Crisis, 198896 7 What Is Happening to Our Children? Youth Suicides, 19802000 8 Decisions: Impulse and Reason in Historical Time, 19002000 Conclusion: Historys Patterns and Preventions Obstacles Appendix One: Methodology Appendix Two: Writing Style Notes Bibliography

Author Information John C. Weaver is Distinguished University Professor at McMaster University, Ontario, and the author of A Sadly Troubled History: The Meanings of Suicide in the Modern Age and The Great Land Rush and the Making of the Modern World, 16501900. For Interviews and Events Professor Weaver will be in New Zealand from February until June 2014 and is available for interviews and events throughout this period. Please contact BWB (info@bwb.co.nz) for more information.

Author John C. Weaver

Bridget Williams Books PO Box 12474 | Wellington 6144 | New Zealand +64 4 473 8128 | info@bwb.co.nz | www.bwb.co.nz