Hawaii

This is James Michener’s fictionalized portrait of Hawaii’s history.  Typical for Michener, he begins with the geological formation in ages past.  Then he portrays the movements of peoples to the Hawaiian Islands over the centuries – Tahitians, missionary families from New England, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Filipinos and more.

It is quite a saga:  a gorgeous setting, a mixture of diverse people, the pivotal role of missionaries, the huge sugar cane and pineapple plantations, Pearl Harbor and more.

It is not a history of Hawaii, but if you are patient (939 pages of vintage Michener), then it’s a good way to learn a lot of Hawaiian history.