Paradise of the Pacific
By Susanna MooreThe dramatic history of America's tropical paradise
The history of Hawaii may be said to be the story of arrivals--from the eruption of volcanoes on the ocean floor 18,000 feet below, the first hardy seeds that over millennia found their way to the islands, and the confused birds blown from their migratory routes, to the early Polynesian adventurers who sailed across the Pacific in double canoes, the Spanish galleons en route to the Philippines, and the British navigators in search of a Northwest Passage, soon followed by pious Protestant missionaries, shipwrecked sailors, and rowdy Irish poachers escaped from Botany Bay--all wanderers washed ashore, sometimes by accident. This is true of many cultures, but in Hawaii, no one seems to have left. And in Hawaii, a set of myths accompanied each of these migrants--legends that shape our understanding of this mysterious place.
In Paradise of the Pacific, Susanna Moore, the award-winning author of In the Cut and The Life of Objects, pieces together the elusive, dramatic story of late-eighteenth-century Hawaii--its kings and queens, gods and goddesses, missionaries, migrants, and explorers--a not-so-distant time of abrupt transition, in which an isolated pagan world of human sacrifice and strict taboo, without a currency or a written language, was confronted with the equally ritualized world of capitalism, Western education, and Christian values.
Book details
- Hardcover
- 320 pages
- English
- 0374298777
- 9780374298777
About Susanna Moore
More Books By Susanna Moore
People who bought this also bought
Taming Your Gremlin: A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting Out of Your Own Way
Used Book
Breathwalk: Breathing Your Way to a Revitalized Body, Mind and Spirit
Used Book
The Roaring 2000s : Building the Wealth and Lifestyle You Desire in the Greatest Boom in History
Used Book
Working the Cloud : The Ultimate Guide to Making the Internet Work for You and Your Business
Used Book
Mwakenya : The Unfinished Revolution: Selected Documents of the Mwakenya - December Twelve Movement (1974-2002)
New Book
The Beardstown Ladies' Common-Sense Investment Guide: How We Beat the Stock Market
Used Book
Here's the Bright Side : Of Failure, Fear, Cancer, Divorce, and Other Bum Raps
Used Book
Close to the Bone : Life-Threatening Illness and the Search for Meaning
Used Book