Much more than a book about bricks and mortar, Gone West details some of the soldiers and a nurse associated with Waitakere's Great War memorials, which include an oak tree planted at New Lynn School, rocky memorials on the West Coast and the RSA obelisk in the soldiers' cemetery at Waikumete. The soldiers include VC-winner Stanley Judson, Cook Islands soldiers, a loved chaplain and members of the (Maori) Pioneer Battalion. Families who sent as many as six sons are revealed as Gone West chronicles the contribution of some of Waitakere's founding families. There is much to learn here about the villages and settlements of Waitakere, and how they coped with the losses of the Great War. Many still have Anzac and Armistice ceremonies at these memorials, which remain potent symbols of the painful events of 100 years ago.