From Rangitoto to One Tree Hill, North Head to Mangere Lagoon, the city of Auckland is defined by the volcanoes it is built upon. For tens of thousands of years, volcanoes have profoundly shaped the area's geology and geography. And for hundreds of years, volcanoes have played a key part in the lives of Maori and Pakeha - as sites for Maori pa and twentieth-century military fortifications, as kumara gardens and parks, as sources of stone and water. Volcanoes of Auckland is the essential guide to these extraordinary natural phenomena. After explaining the science of volcanoes and the role that Auckland's volcanoes played in the area's Maori and Pakeha history, the book then offers an illustrated guide to the geology and history of each Auckland volcano. Through authoritative text, newly commissioned maps, spectacular new aerial photography, and large numbers of contemporary and historic illustrations, the book brings to life the nature and culture of the region's volcanic life. Volcanoes of Auckland will be the book that locals and visitors, school children and policymakers, historians and scientists turn to as they look around trying to understand the volcanoes that so shape life in Auckland.