A riveting chronicle of how Hawaii came to be a part of the United States. The author has utilized available sources, including letters and diaries belonging to members of the Hawaiian royal family, to create this meticulous, absorbing narrative of the beautiful and calm Polynesian island chain before the arrival of the Americans and how the kingdom was taken over and transformed (not always for the better) by outsiders. With the arrival of the New England Christian missionaries in 1820 to Christianize and educate the native population, eventually Western powers like England and the U.S. began to take notice of Hawaii, and then to insert themselves into the kingdom's affairs. Siler not only discusses the changes that occurred because of this intrusion, but follows the life of Lili'u, born and educated to become the last queen of Hawaii, and presents a clear, well drawn portrait of this last Hawaiian monarch. She explores the various issues with the white planters who took over most of the prime agricultural land in order to grow sugar cane, made enormous fortunes, and became the self proclaimed "Sugar Kings," with their ever-growing influence in Hawaiian matters of state. King David, Lili'u's brother, indebted to most of them, became more ineffectual as a monarch as the years passed.
By the time Lili'u came to the throne as Queen Lili'uokalani, her country was almost bankrupt, the natives were nearly powerless in their own government, and a few wealthy men were increasingly in control. In 1893 at the instigation of this powerful political group (and against the wishes of most of the native population) American troops landed in Honolulu, deposed the queen and kept her under house arrest. By 1896, with no help forthcoming, Lili'u was forced to abdicate her throne. Although she sought help from other nations (including the sympathetic President Cleveland and the United States) to regain her throne, by 1898, with the concerns of the Spanish-American War at the forefront, the United States under the newly elected President McKinley annexed Hawaii and thus gained a strong foothold in the Pacific. Siler writes movingly of the loss of Hawaiian customs and language, of the natural beauty of the islands, of governmental control taken from the natives and given to white planters and businessmen, of a monarchy haunted and decimated by disease, drinking problems, indebtedness, bad advisers, and ignorance, the ineffectual attempts at restoring power to the Hawaiian people, and the controversies surrounding annexation. A highly readable, factual, interesting, and revealing account of American imperialism in the Pacific and the tragedy it wrought on the island kingdom that became our 50th state.
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