Bøger af Maxine Mrantz

Throughout the history of Hawai'i, women have played a crucial role in shaping the government, societal landscape, and future of the Islands by leading their people through immense change. Women of Old Hawai'i offers a basic overview of just a handful of the outstanding figures whose iinfluence and work are still felt today. Author Maxine Mrantz begins by just scratching the surface of what life was like for women in ancient Hawai'i, explaining the importance of genealogy and bloodlines, marriage and children, and women's roles as caregivers, artists, rulers, and lawmakers. Among the most notable women presented are Queen Ka'ahumanu, wife of Kamehameha I, Chiefess Kapi'olani, Elizabeth Kīna'u, Kekāuluohi, Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, Queen Emma, Princess Ka'iulani, and Queen Lili'uokalani. Their accomplishments exceed what's listed here and continue to be seen and felt throughout Hawai'i today--from the laws created, to the buildings erected, to the land preserved, to the songs written. Hawai'i's presence on the world stage would not have been possible without the courage and strength of the women leaders who paved the way forward.

Ka'iulani's story spans the years when Hawai'i struggled against foreign domination, the monarchy was overthrown, and Hawai'i became a U.S. territory. It is a dramatic story, full of interest, beauty, and pathos, both fascinating as the biography of a singularly gifted, beautiful, and wise young woman, and valuable as a chapter in the history of the fiftieth state. Ka'iulani was a fairy-tale princess, who as a child lived in an enchanted Waikk garden of huge banyan trees where peacocks roamed. Her uncle, King David Kal kaua, was overjoyed at her birth, happy to know that his sister, Princess Miriam Likelike, had produced an heir to the throne. She was a dazzled witness to the first formal coronation of a Hawaiian king; a princess who later suffered years of exile and humiliation, who became the shining heroine of a humbled nation, and who died still young and beautiful at the age of twenty-three. Richly illustrated with vintage photographs, Ka'iulani: Hawai'i's Tragic Princess, tells the story of Hawai'i's beloved princess while illuminating late nineteenth century Hawaiian history.

Before Hawai'i was unified under a single monarch, its islands were ruled by warring chiefs. In 1810, the islands were finally united under a chief considered to be the greatest of Hawai'i's monarchs"€"Kamehameha the Great. His reign marked the beginning of the Kingdom of Hawai'i that lasted until its tragic overthrow in 1893 by American businessmen. Hawai'i's monarchs were tasked with shepherding in tumultuous change as the world began to encroach on the island kingdom. Visiting sailors, explorers, missionaries, traders, and whalers transformed Hawai'i's social, economic, political, cultural, and environmental future not only centrally but on the world-stage. As American economic, cultural, and military interests in the islands grew throughout the nineteenth century, the stage was set for a confrontation leading to the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. A century later, Native Hawaiians remember their monarchs with reverence, recognizing the struggles of their chiefs to chart a wise path through the turbulent storms of disease, upheaval and change that had swept the islands of Hawai'i. The Hawaiian Monarchy provides a narrative overview of each major monarch as they fought to protect Hawaiian sovereignty and its people, covering major events during their rule and the challenges they encountered.