Taking readers on a journey into Hawaii's fascinating secret places of spiritual and cultural significance, this unique guidebook ventures far beyond the beaches and tourist destinations to places never seen by most visitors, or even many local residents.

Covering all of the major Hawaiian Islands, this book takes readers on routes not found in traditional guidebooks, on journeys to the Hawai'i of old-places of powerful ali'i, wise kahuna, sacred heiau, and mysterious menehune. Sites of historical and cultural significance are described in detail and directions are given to each place.

The New York Times–bestselling author delivers “a riveting saga about Big Sugar flexing its imperialist muscle in Hawaii . . . A real gem of a book” (Douglas Brinkley, author of American Moonshot). Deftly weaving together a memorable cast of characters, Lost Kingdom brings to life the 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‘u was determined to enact a constitution to reinstate the monarchy’s power but was outmaneuvered by the United States. The annexation of Hawai‘i had begun, ushering in a new century of American imperialism. “An important chapter in our national history, one that most Americans don’t know but should.” —The New York Times Book Review “Siler gives us a riveting and intimate look at the rise and tragic fall of Hawaii’s royal family . . . A reminder that Hawaii remains one of the most breathtaking places in the world. Even if the kingdom is lost.” —Fortune “[A] well-researched, nicely contextualized history . . . [Indeed] ‘one of the most audacious land grabs of the Gilded Age.’” —Los Angeles Times

With its azure skies, blue seas, lush tropical foliage, and volcanic formations, the Hawaiian islands truly are a visual celebration--and this volume, featuring awe-inspiring photos by Elan Penn, honors its magnificence. But there’s more to America’s 50th state than amazing landscapes: Award-winning author Ellie Crowe is a superb tour guide to the individual islands, with their state parks, museums of native art, temples, ranches, farms, and gardens. Of course, there’s a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial; an introduction to the fierce chiefs and feather gods, monarchs and missionaries who influenced the culture; a journey to the Moloka’i sea cliffs; a trip to Volcanoes National Park; and a presentation of contemporary, sophisticated Hawaii. A foreword by leading Hawaiian scholar Rubellite Kawena Kinney Johnson begins the journey.

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 to the first hardy seeds that over millennia found their way to the islands, and the confused birds blown from their migratory routes. Early Polynesian adventurers sailed across the Pacific in double canoes. Spanish galleons en route to the Philippines and British navigators in search of a Northwest Passage were soon followed by pious Protestant missionaries, shipwrecked sailors, and rowdy Irish poachers escaped from Botany Bay -- all wanderers washed ashore. 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. Susanna Moore pieces together the 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.

Beautiful coffee-table book featuring brilliant color photographs of the 'Hidden Hawaii' as discovered by traveler/photographer Mark W. Curran, who uses state of the art HDR techniques to capture remote regions of the islands rarely visited by tourists. Oahu, Molokai, Maui and the Big Island like you've never seen them before.

Travel guide, in photographs, of Maui and Molokai. Includes descriptions of various sites, travel routes, and maps.