More suggestions and sources
Cookson, John, and Graeme Dunstall, eds. Southern capital: Christchurch: towards a city biography, 1850–2000. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2000.
Cultural indicators for New Zealand: Tohu ahurea mō Aotearoa. Wellington: Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 2009.
Hurst, Maurice. Music and the stage in New Zealand: a century of entertainment, 1840–1943. Auckland: Charles Begg, 1944.
Neely, D. O. The summer game: the illustrated history of New Zealand cricket. Auckland: Moa Beckett, 1994
Thomson, John Mansfield. Oxford history of New Zealand music. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Yska, Redmer. Wellington: biography of a city. Auckland: Reed, 2006.