-Nani learns that there is more to being a princess than fine clothes when a real Hawaiian princess comes to save the town of Hilo from Mauna Loa's volcanic lava flow. Based on the historical events of the 1880-1881 eruption of Mauna Loa on the Island of Hawai'i---

-Nani learns that there is more to being a princess than fine clothes when a real Hawaiian princess comes to save the town of Hilo from Mauna Loa's volcanic lava flow. Based on the historical events of the 1880-1881 eruption of Mauna Loa on the Island of Hawai'i---

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.

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

Learn all about the princess of Hawaii with some history of Hawaii.