From the Publisher
In Hawaii, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Michener
weaves the classic saga that brought Hawaii's epic history vividly
alive to the American public on its initial publication in 1959,
and continues to mesmerize even today.
The volcanic processes by which the Hawaiian Islands grew from the
ocean floor were inconceivably slow, and the land remained
untouched by man for countless centuries until, little more than a
thousand years ago, Polynesian seafarers made the perilous journey
across the Pacific and discovered their new home. They lived and
flourished in this tropical paradise according to their ancient
traditions and beliefs until, in the early nineteenth century,
American missionaries arrived, bringing a new creed and a new way
of life to a Stone Age society. The impact of the missionaries had
only begun to be absorbed when other national groups, with equally
different customs, began to migrate in great numbers to the
islands. The story of modern Hawaii, and of this novel, is one of
how disparate peoples, struggling to keep their identity yet live
with one another in harmony, ultimately joined together to build
America's strong and vital fiftieth state.
From the Jacket
In "Hawaii, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Michener weaves the
classic saga that brought Hawaii''s epic history vividly alive to
the American public on its initial publication in 1959, and
continues to mesmerize even today.
The volcanic processes by which the Hawaiian Islands grew from the
ocean floor were inconceivably slow, and the land remained
untouched by man for countless centuries until, little more than a
thousand years ago, Polynesian seafarers made the perilous journey
across the Pacific and discovered their new home. They lived and
flourished in this tropical paradise according to their ancient
traditions and beliefs until, in the early nineteenth century,
American missionaries arrived, bringing a new creed and a new way
of life to a Stone Age society. The impact of the missionaries had
only begun to be absorbed when other national groups, with equally
different customs, began to migrate in great numbers to the
islands. The story of modern Hawaii, and of this novel, is one of
how disparate peoples, struggling to keep their identity yet live
with one another in harmony, ultimately joined together to build
America''s strong and vital fiftieth state.
About the Author
Universally revered novelist James A. Michener was forty before he
decided on writing as a career. Prior to that, he had been an
outstanding academic, an editor, and a U.S. Navy lieutenant
commander in the Pacific Theater during World War II. His first
book, Tales of the South Pacific, won a Pulitzer Prize and became
the basis of the award-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein musical
South Pacific. In the course of the next forty years Mr. Michener
wrote such monumental bestsellers as Sayonara, The Bridges at
Toko-Ri, Hawaii, The Source, Chesapeake, Centennial, Texas, Alaska,
Caribbean, and Mexico.
Decorated with America''s highest civilian award, the Presidential
Medal of Freedom, Mr. Michener served on the Advisory Council to
NASA, held honorary doctorates in five fields from thirty leading
universities, and received an award from the President''s Committee
on the Arts and Humanities for his continuing commitment to art in
America. James A. Michener died on October 16, 1997.
