Ghosts of Gondwana: The History of Life in New Zealand, written by Wellington senior research associate George Gibbs, summarises a "huge range of recent biological research" on how this country's plants and animals evolved to produce our flora and fauna.
Craig Potton Publishing managing director and publisher Robbie Burton says the win was a big thrill for the company.
"It's a really important book that has made a real contribution to the understanding of how things are the way they are in New Zealand."
Burton says Dr Gibbs had approached Craig Potton Publishing to produce the book, which had done all any publisher dreamed of.
"It's won a medal and it's sold well. It's now in its third printing since release last November."
The win topped off a successful week for the Nelson publishing firm, which also took the Booksellers Choice Award for its Tramping in New Zealand, a Bird's-Eye Guide. This book, voted by booksellers as the one they liked selling most, was developed around the latest generation of "bird's-eye" computer-generated maps, which give panoramic overviews constructed from map data.
