The only New Zealander to have been attacked by a library, former diplomat Nick Bridge writes of his liberation from English class constraints and an education at a Hampshire prep school to the opportunities of 1950s New Zealand and a co-ed state school in Hutt Valley, which took him eventually to seven international postings as a Kiwi diplomat, including many years in China and India. His other roles include batman to a Bishop, hotel bellhop, self-confessed cricket tragic, president of the National Library Society, member of the Wellington Civic Trust and husband to one of this country's leading poets and Chinese scholars.

The Boat That Brought Me bursts with the optimistic, dynamic force that is Nick Bridge, a man who reveals a deep love for his adopted home and describes with considerable frankness and humour the various worlds he's inhabited. He has drawn praise from former colleagues and other leading authorities - from the head of the PM's department to a former Indian foreign secretary to a leading academic - for his insights into New Zealand diplomacy, and for writing that has been described as 'engrossing', 'revealing about our times' and 'funny, arch and true'.