A Royal Navy sub was sent on a Cold War mission to spy on its own side to prove that crews could safely carry out surveillance of the Russian fleet.

Real-life links of Ben Wishaw's family to world of espionage revealed in book by agent's daughter.

An edited extract from High Country Stations of the Mackenzie, written by Mary Hobbs reveals the pioneers of the famed Mt Cook Station.

The legacy of Sir Edmund Hillary has scaled new heights, with his personal documents added to a list of the world's most treasured documents.

Is lasting love being replaced by bored singles looking for one night stands?

The teeth of a dog may provide new insight into how humans migrated across the world's largest ocean to New Zealand, and where they came from.

Our obsession with bling has shone through the centuries. What draws us to shiny things and how much is too much?

Let us not get rid of yet another reminder of our unique history as a city. writes Helen Laurenson. The struggle between modernity and memories, forgetfulness and obligation to the past has continued in Auckland.

The New Zealand Defence Force is searching for a famous rugby trophy won by a team of New Zealand soldiers almost 100 years ago.

How did the 19th century murder of a vivacious young Englishwoman affect the invasion of a Maori pacifist settlement one year later?

On the afternoon of October 6, 1915, Leslie Beauchamp, a New Zealander in the British Army, gave a class in grenade throwing. He didn't survive it.

Why stay home in the holidays? Catherine Smith checks out the Heritage Festival's highlights.

Standing in the light of a gas lamp and pressing your nose against window panes to peer into a quaint colonial shop or cottage will become a thing of the past for visitors to Auckland Museum.

Forgotten for nearly 500 years, the sheet music owned by Henry VIII's second wife could shed new light on her life - and loves, says Ivan Hewett.

The Auckland Council is holding the line on rules to protect the city's built heritage after being advised they are a burden on landowners seeking to develop their properties.

Genuine world-class cities venerate heritage. Unless we get real about protecting our heritage, Auckland is in danger of becoming a fake, writes Elizabeth Aitken-Rose.

If there is one event that defines the modern world, it is the blinding, searing, radioactive explosion over the city of Hiroshima 70 years ago today.

Seventy years on, the feared nuclear Armageddon has been kept in check - but a new threat is mounting, writes Alexander Gillespie.

I've written, enough times to make it seem memorable, of hikers, hunters, divers and cavers coming unexpectedly upon human bones.

Neglected Campbell Island seems to me like New Zealand's planet Pluto.

And before the advent of local anaesthetic, the process of treating them sounds fairly miserable.

Grant Bradley revisits a long-held interest with a tour of Colditz, the German castle which housed POWs during World War II.

Politics have scuttled an event to celebrate the discovery of the "ghost ship" SS Ventnor, which sank off Hokianga in 1902.

The 30th anniversary of the Rainbow Warrior sinking is on July 10. Suzanne McFadden looks at the problems Auckland faced in containing its most renowned prisoners.

In Auckland's 175th anniversary year, Suzanne McFadden examines an issue vexing Aucklanders perhaps now more than ever - property.