Once Were Warriors

A New Zealand classic, this novel is a raw and powerful portrayal of Maori in New Zealand society.

Alan Duff's groundbreaking first novel is one of the most talked-about books ever published in New Zealand and is the basis of a major New Zealand film. This hard hitting story is a frank and uncompromising portrait in which everyone is a victim, until the strength and vision of one woman transcends brutality and leads the way to a new life.

This classic has been released in the Popular Penguin format to mark 50 years of publishing in New Zealand. The format reaches further back to 1935, when Allen Lane founded Penguin Books with a clear vision — 'We believed in the existence of a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it.'

Ground-breaking.

Original.

Heart-rending.

Most talked about book in New Zealand, ever.

Adapted into a blockbuster movie.

Still in print three decades later.