Lost Kingdom: Hawaiia's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and Americaa's First Imperial Venture

"Lost Kingdom" presents an excellent and even handed account of the transition of Hawaii from a Kingdom into an American Territory. Whereas some books on the topic tend to sympathize with the "innocent Hawaiians" who were victimized by the descendants of American missionaries, author Julia Flynn Siler tells the facts and lets the reader draw his own conclusions.Siler lays the groundwork by reporting the background of how the kingdom united by Kamehameha I gradually became the multi-cultural society that it is today. From the 1820s on, Hawaii attracted Christian missionaries from the United States and political overtures from western powers, particularly Britain, France, Germany and the United States, who were then establishing their empires. This book explains the interests of each power in the islands and how the succession of Hawaiian monarchs responded to the advances of each. The identification of Hawaiian royalty with the British Royal Family makes for interesting reading. The reader comes to realize that history could have turned out differently with Hawaii becoming attached to a European nation or even the leader of a Polynesian Empire.The central character of the drama is Lili'uokalani, the last Queen of Hawaii. Referred to throughout the book as Lili'u, the name used by her friends, she emerges as a figure who tried mightily to defend the interests of the crown and her people, the natives of Hawaii. Growing up as an ali'I, of the ruling class, but not an obvious heir to the throne, Lili'u came closer to power as the Kamehameha line declined and died out. The reader will notice the short life-spans and reigns of her predecessors.Like many stories of nations stolen and natives dispossessed, the story of Hawaii is a complex one. Many of them were of mixed blood, heirs to both Hawaiian and European heritage. As Europeans and Americans brought disease and commerce, they gradually acquired power from native Hawaiians. By the latter parts of the Nineteenth Century the whites, known locally as haoles, grasped for the power to control the destiny of Hawaii by annexation to the United States. Even that would not be a clean transfer. While U.S. Marines aided the haole revolution, it was done in a way so as to embarrass the Cleveland administration to the point that annexation was resisted. It would take several years of negotiations and uncertainty before the missionary and sugar conquest would be complete and the Stars and Stripes would be firmly planted on Hawaiian shores."Lost Kingdom" tells a fascinating story in a well written manner. The Cast of Characters and Glossary in the front of the book make it much easier to follow for the reader who is unfamiliar with Hawaiian terms and history. My enthusiasm for the book was never sapped by dense or obscure prose. The reader will come to better understand the Hawaii that was and is as well as the United States. Whether or not you have a particular interest in Hawaii, this is a story and a book that you will not want to miss.