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Captive Paradise

A History of Hawaii

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Captive Paradise

Written by: James L. Haley
Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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About this listen

In the tradition of Nathaniel Philbrick and David McCullough comes the first full-scale narrative history of Hawaii, an epic tale of empire, industry, war, and culture.

The most recent state to join the union, Hawaii is the only one to have once been a royal kingdom. After its discovery by Captain Cook in the late 18th century, Hawaii was fought over by European powers determined to take advantage of its position as the crossroads of the Pacific. The arrival of the first missionaries marked the beginning of the struggle between a native culture with its ancient gods, sexual libertinism, and rites of human sacrifice and the rigid values of the Calvinists. While Hawaii's royal rulers adopted Christianity, they also fought to preserve their ancient ways. But the success of the ruthless American sugar barons sealed their fate, and in1893 the American Marines overthrew Liliuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii.

Captive Paradise is the story of King Kamehameha I, the Conqueror, who unified the islands through terror and bloodshed but whose dynasty succumbed to inbreeding; of Gilded Age tycoons like Claus Spreckels, who brilliantly outmaneuvered his competitors; of firebrand Lorrin Thurston, who was determined that Hawaii be ruled by whites; of President McKinley, who presided over the eventual annexation of the islands. Not since James Michener's classic novel Hawaii has there been such a vibrant and compelling portrait of an extraordinary place and its people.

©2014 James L. Haley (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Australia & Oceania Hawaii Oceania United States Royalty Island War Military Imperialism Gilded Age King
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Well presented and interesting

I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The author does his best to be objective but at the same time inject some personal opinion on the subject.
It gives a great overview of the monarchy and how difficult it was to keep it together with foreign countries circling like sharks.
The narrator was a bit of a shock at first , but I grew to enjoy his voice.
I would recommend this to Hawai'i obsessed folk like myself

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