Patched: The History of New Zealand Gangs by Jarrod Gilbert, detailing the history of New Zealand gangs and their impact on mainstream New Zealand life, was launched at the University of Canterbury on Friday 22 March by Professor Greg Newbold.

Patched is the first major history of Kiwi gangs. In his violent and sometimes horrifying book, Jarrod takes readers behind the patch and into a tough but revealing part of New Zealand life. The story unfolds from the bodgies and widgies of the 1950s, through the rise of the Hells Angels and other ‘bikie’ gangs in the 1960s, the growth of the Mongrel Mob and Black Power in the 1970s and on to shifts in gang activity around drugs and organised crime over the last decade. Throughout, he brings us the gang members, the police and the politicians in their own gripping, gritty words.

'So much of the discussion around gangs is shrouded in myth, and this book uncovers this,' Jarrod says. 'Yet it finds that the reality is at least as interesting as the folklore that surrounds them. I feel quite sure – at least I hope – that you will find it as incredible and as interesting as I have.'

'I hope that it gives an informed view of the gang and club scene in New Zealand. A story like this can’t help but be sensational in parts but I don’t tell these stories to create tabloid sensationalism, I do so to explain important components of gang or club life. The book is a comprehensive look at and how and why gangs come about and how and why they have changed over time. It examines the history of many different groups. It looks at the social and economic factors that influence and affect gangs, and also the numerous police and political responses to them (both good and bad).'

Ross Kemp, BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker, made Jarrod the associate director for the New Zealand episode of Ross Kemp on Gangs.

'Jarrod Gilbert knows more about the gangs of New Zealand than anybody else,' Kemp says. 'He knows about honour, he knows about the road, he knows the code. He got as close to the gangs as somebody could without wearing a patch. This book tells his story.'