Books
- My Life in New Zealand (1978)
- This is New Zealand (1984)
- The New Zealand Quiz Book (1986)
- New Zealand: the land and its people (1993)
- The Concise Encyclopedia of New Zealand (2000)
- New Zealand in Focus: a nation on the move (2005)
- New Zealand on the World Stage: a history of New Zealand's international relations (2009)
- Our Heritage, Our Future: a history of New Zealand (2013)
- The Penguin Book of New Zealand Fiction: 200 years of stories from Aotearoa (2018)
Selected articles and short stories
- "The First New Zealander" (Landfall, 1972)
- "The Kiwi in the Lion's Den" (New Zealand Listener, 1974)
- "The Great New Zealand Myth" (New Zealand Monthly Review, 1976)
- "The Death of New Zealand" (The Listener, 1984)
- "The 100 Most Important New Zealanders" (The New Zealand Herald, 2002)
Awards and honours
- Commonwealth Writers' Prize (1985)
- Montana New Zealand Book Awards (2006, 2010)
- Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement (2009)