Staunch: Inside the gangs

by Bill Payne

151 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Roy Jamieson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opening look into different New Zealand clubs [gangs]. While some of the Information was dated by the books release, Bills somewhat naive approach to obtaining the material for his book, [which started in prison] has managed to collate some very raw, truthful and insightful conversations with people,For myself, many of the people Bill talked with, I had no understanding of their life, their world. So reading the different stories was an insight and privilege. A friend [who appears on the front cover] said Bill even got a punch in the face for cold calling on a club [gang] for his book. Standout interviews for me where with, The Prospect and Celia Lashlie NZ's first female prison warden. Also, Peter's photography has captured some great images. Overall, Bill has covered a wide spectrum of subcultures in New Zealand that would come under the umbrella of "Staunch" and I personally thank him and Peter for having this idea and following it through to a finished product to share with people. I learnt a lot from this book. It helped me change my views on some people in the Community and gave me understanding with others, which has allowed me to think with more compassion. Which is a special thing to achieve when writing a book. Well done Bill and Peter.