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Also by Julia Flynn Siler:

Lost Kingdom, January 2012
Hardcover / e-Book
The House of Mondavi, June 2007
Hardcover

Lost Kingdom
Julia Flynn Siler

Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America's First Imperial Adventure

Atlantic Monthly Press
January 2012
On Sale: January 3, 2012
480 pages
ISBN: 0802120016
EAN: 9780802120014
Kindle: B006BAEP6I
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction

Around 200 A.D., intrepid Polynesians arrived at an undisturbed archipelago. For centuries, their descendants lived with little contact from the western world. In 1778, their isolation was shattered with the arrival of Captain Cook.

Deftly weaving together a memorable cast of characters, Lost Hawaii brings to life the ensuing clash between a vulnerable Polynesian people and relentlessly expanding capitalist powers. Portraits of royalty and rogues, sugar barons, and missionaries combine into a sweeping tale of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s rise and fall.

At the center of the story is Lili‘uokalani, the last queen of Hawai‘i. Born in 1838, she lived through the nearly complete economic transformation of the islands. Lucrative sugar plantations gradually subsumed the majority of the land, owned almost exclusively by white planters, dubbed the “Sugar Kings.” Hawai‘i became a prize in the contest between America, Britain, and France, each seeking to expand their military and commercial influence in the Pacific.

The monarchy had become a figurehead, victim to manipulation from the wealthy sugar plantation owners. Lili‘uokalani was determined to enact a constitution to reinstate the monarchy’s power but was outmaneuvered by the U.S. The annexation of Hawai‘i had begun, ushering in a new century of American imperialism.

Comments

1 comment posted.

Re: Lost Kingdom

I'm certainly hoping that I can find this book. I've read articles on the deposing of Hawaiian royalty and the annexation of their territories, but never in a cohesive fashion. It is sad that we Europeans--mostly for unethical reasons--decided to conquer every corner of the globe.
(Sigrun Schulz 11:27pm December 2, 2011)