Stevan Eldred-Grigg is a novelist, short-story writer, essayist and historian. His first book, A Southern Gentry, created considerable controversy for its portrayal of wealthy landowners in colonial New Zealand. Oracles and Miracles, his first novel, was published in 1987. He has written eight other novels. These include The Shining City and Mum, part of the Oracles and Miracles trilogy, Kaput!, and Shanghai Boy. His histories include A New History of Canterbury, Pleasures of the Flesh, Working People, and The Rich. His latest work of non-fiction, Diggers, Hatters and Whores, about the New Zealand goldrushes, was published at the end of 2008.