Greed, death, cultural desecration, manifest destiny—what a lark! But with Vowell as tour guide it does, at times, manage to be just that…Vowell deftly summarizes complex events and significant upheavals, reducing them to their essence…While [her] take on Hawaii's Americanization is abbreviated, it's never bereft of substance—her repartee manages to be filling, her insights astute and comprehensive.
—The New York Times

[Vowell's] prose is conversational but clever, her anecdotes quirky yet highly crafted…It's the kind of writing performed so well on National Public Radio, journalism as human interest, history as found poetry, monologue casting a spell of public intimacy…this is a book aimed at a wide audience, and Vowell tells a good tale. Forgive her journalistic excesses, consider her shrewd observations, and enjoy her comic turns of phrase. If you feel compelled after reading to journey to the Bishop Museum or devour the journals of Captain Cook or see some real hula, so much the better.
—The Washington Post

Sarah Vowell is an intellectual melting pot. Her cleverness is gorgeously American…” – Los Angeles Times

“Its scintillating cast includes dour missionaries, genital-worshiping heathens, Teddy Roosevelt, incestuous royalty, a nutty Mormon, a much-too-­merry monarch, President Obama, sugar barons, an imprisoned queen and Vowell herself, in a kind of 50th-state variety show. It’s a fun book…[a] playful, provocative, stand-up approach to history.”—The New York Times Book Review

“As entertaining and personable as it is informative.”—Washington Post

“Sarah Vowell is for my money, the best essayist/radio commentator/sit-down comic and pointy headed history geek in the business.”—Seattle Times

Historian Sarah Vowell serves up the story of the "cultural collision between native Hawaiians and New Englanders" with a fresh perspective on the Americanization of Hawaii and the events leading to its annexation in 1898. New England missionaries arrived in 1820, and events led to the overthrowing of the Hawaiian queen and the eventual annexation coup, replete with imperialistic overtones. Vowell speaks conversationally with her distinctive pitch and unhurried pacing, her voice laced with irony, wry insights, and humor. Her performance enables the listener to savor each witticism and striking analogy. She’s joined by nine other performers, who animate the pungent historical quotes. Vowell is a master of blending current culture and personal anecdotes with historical details. Smart, informative, and colorful, this shrewd contemplation of Hawaii and the demise of its people's ancient customs is truly memorable. A.W Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Ever-clever NPR contributor Vowell (The Wordy Shipmates, 2008, etc.) offers a quick, idiosyncratic account of Hawaii from the time Capt. James Cook was dispatched to the then–Sandwich Islands to the end of the 19th century, when the United States annexed the islands.

The author skips the politics by which Hawaii was admitted to the union in 1959. Within months, James Michener's blockbuster novel named after the new state became a runaway bestseller. Now, with a Hawaiian-born resident of the White House, Vowell's nonfiction report is a fine update—short, sweet and personal. She's especially sharp in her considerations of the baleful effect of imposed religion as missionaries tried to turn happy Polynesians into dour Yankees. Earnest, intrepid advocates embarked for the place where Cook died, hoping to correct the islander's easygoing—and, in the case of royalty, incestuous—ways. The invading clerics were soon followed by rowdy whalers who rubbed their fellow New Englanders the wrong way. (They were the "unfamiliar fishes" new to Honolulu's waters). The result was early empire building in the pursuit of Manifest Destiny. Annexation and the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch, was a destiny aided, ironically, by powerful Hawaiians. Vowell celebrates the early restoration of the hula, but she skims much of the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 20th century. The author presents the views of the islanders as well as the invaders, as she delves into journals and narratives and takes field trips with local guides. Her characteristic light touch is evident throughout.

Lively history and astute sociology make a sprightly chronicle of a gorgeous archipelago and its people.