Captive paradise
Subtitle: a history of Hawai'i
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2014
Place of publication: New York, USA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 405
ISBN-13: 9780312600655
Copyright date: 2014
Subjects: Annexation to the United States; History
First sentence: Throughout recent years, activists agitating for the independence of Hawai'i occupy the grounds of the 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu, the only former royal palace on American soil.
Description: The most recent state to join the union, Hawaii is the only one to have once been a royal kingdom. After its "discovery" by Captain Cook in the late 18th Century, Hawaii was fought over by European powers determined to take advantage of its position as the crossroads of the Pacific. The arrival of the first missionaries marked the beginning of the struggle between a native culture with its ancient gods, sexual libertinism and rites of human sacrifice, and the rigid values of the Calvinists. While Hawaii's royal rulers adopted Christianity, they also fought to preserve their ancient ways. But the success of the ruthless American sugar barons sealed their fate and in 1893, the American Marines overthrew Lili'uokalani, the last queen of Hawaii. James L. Haley's Captive Paradise is the story of King Kamehameha I, The Conqueror, who unified the islands through terror and bloodshed, but whose dynasty succumbed to inbreeding; of Gilded Age tycoons like Claus Spreckels, who brilliantly outmaneuvered his competitors; of firebrand Lorrin Thurston, who was determined that Hawaii be ruled by whites; and of President McKinley, who presided over the eventual annexation of the islands. Not since James Michener's classic novel Hawaii has there been such a vibrant and compelling portrait of an extraordinary place and its people.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Preface
pagenum: xi; title: The Kings and Queens of Hawai'i
pagenum: xix; title: Missionaries to the Sandwich Islands (Owhyhee)
pagenum: xxi; title: Antecedent: Captain Cook
pagenum: xxv; label: 1.
title: The loneliness of a God
pagenum: 1; label: 2.
title: "Disobey, and die"
pagenum: 20; label: 3.
title: The suicide of Kapu
pagenum: 34; label: 4.
title: Abhorring a Vacuum
pagenum: 53; label: 5.
title: The New Morality
pagenum: 74; label: 6.
title: Becoming Little Americans
pagenum: 91; label: 7.
title: A Sweet Taste
pagenum: 109; label: 8.
title: Captains and Cannons
pagenum: 121; label: 9.
title: A Nation Among Nations
pagenum: 137; label: 10.
title: The Great Mahele
pagenum: 154; label: 11.
title: The Anglican attraction
pagenum: 172; label: 12.
title: Useful Marriages
pagenum: 189; label: 13.
title: Mountains of Sugar
pagenum: 208; label: 14.
title: Taffy Triumphant
pagenum: 226; label: 15.
title: A Voice Like Distant Thunder
pagenum: 246; label: 16.
title: Queen at Last
pagenum: 257; label: 17.
title: The Coup
pagenum: 278; label: 18.
title: The inscrutable Mr. Blount
pagenum: 300; label: 19.
title: Countercoup and Annexation
pagenum: 317; label: 20.
title: Angry Lu'aus
pagenum: 337; title: Notes
pagenum: 353; title: Bibliography
pagenum: 375; title: Acknowledgments
pagenum: 385; title: Index
pagenum: 387