Hawaii - A History Rewritten

Unfamiliar Fishes - Sarah Vowell (9 Stars)
2011 - Riverhead

I am not much of a history buff, cannot stand the subject really - I seem to lack the attention span and the ability to hold together important dates and such. (Although I have ALWAYS been able to remember that the Battle of Hastings was in 1066 for some reason.) 

Anyway, I now prefer my doses of history to come from Sarah Vowell. I love her particular and seemingly unique viewpoint, her historical wit and perspective - it's a very palatable way to digest history. She is my official chronicler.

Unfamiliar Fishes is her latest foray into the history genre and of particular interest to me - the history of Hawaii as a sovereign nation ad its "transition" to American statehood. If you really dont think you can take another history book, I highly, highly recommend this as an audiobook. Vowell has a very distinct voice (akin to a David Sedaris reading) that only adds to the experience.

I would normally give this book 8 stars out of 10 but the subject matter is so close to my heart and thus earns a higher recommendation.

Amazon description - From the bestselling author of The Wordy Shipmates, comes an examination of Hawaii, the place where Manifest Destiny got a sunburn. 

Many think of 1776 as the defining year of American history, when we became a nation devoted to the pursuit of happiness through self- government. In Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell argues that 1898 might be a year just as defining, when, in an orgy of imperialism, the United States annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and invaded first Cuba, then the Philippines, becoming an international superpower practically overnight.

Among the developments in these outposts of 1898, Vowell considers the Americanization of Hawaii the most intriguing. From the arrival of New England missionaries in 1820, their goal to Christianize the local heathen, to the coup d'état of the missionaries' sons in 1893, which overthrew the Hawaiian queen, the events leading up to American annexation feature a cast of beguiling, and often appealing or tragic, characters: whalers who fired cannons at the Bible-thumpers denying them their God-given right to whores, an incestuous princess pulled between her new god and her brother-husband, sugar barons, lepers, con men, Theodore Roosevelt, and the last Hawaiian queen, a songwriter whose sentimental ode "Aloha 'Oe" serenaded the first Hawaiian president of the United States during his 2009 inaugural parade.

With her trademark smart-alecky insights and reporting, Vowell lights out to discover the off, emblematic, and exceptional history of the fiftieth state, and in so doing finds America, warts and all.

I do not carry any collectible editions of this book, but here's a link to buy a standard edition (I benefit from all sales made through this link, so thank you in advance):