Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
The Descendants
by Kaui Hart Hemmings
The bittersweet tale of a storied Hawaiian family in crisis, adapted for the Alexander Payne movie starring George Clooney.
Travelers' Tales Hawai'i True Stories
by Rick Carroll (Editor)
This terrific anthology includes contributions on the history, culture and nature of Hawaii by an impressive group of writers, including Paul Theroux, John McPhee and Maxine Hong Kingston.
Oahu Revealed
by Andrew Doughty
Candid, comprehensive and well illustrated, this up-to-date local guide covers the nature and culture of the island as well as adventures and activities.
Volcanoes, Fire From the Earth
by Maurice Krafft
By the great French volcanologist (who died on the job on Mount Unzen in Japan in 1992), this pocket guide features hundreds of full-color paintings and traces the study of volcanoes from early myth and legend to modern science.
Pearl Harbor Ghosts, The Legacy of December 7, 1941
by Thurston Clarke
A well-researched and evocative look at the bombing of Pearl Harbor by a veteran travel writer. Clarke compares and contrasts the social life and culture of Hawaii on the day of the bombing and sixty years later, enumerating the changes wrought by WWII.
Dismembering Lahui, A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887
by Jon Kamakawiwoole Osorio
Osorio charts the effects of Western law on the national identity of Native Hawaiians in this political history of the Kingdom of Hawaii from the onset of constitutional government in 1840 to the Bayonet Constitution of 1887.
Unfamiliar Fishes
by Sarah Vowell
Tracking the Americanization of Hawaii from the arrival of the first missionaries in 1820 to the annexation in 1898 (Queen Liliuokalani was in Washington lobbying to save her nation during the McKinley inauguration), Vowell shows the complex interplay of god, business and tradition with her usual acerbic wit (and research).
Aloha Betrayed
by Noenoe K. Silva
Silva draws on newspapers, books, letters and contemporary accounts in Hawaiian for this eye-opening account of popular resistance to the annexation of Hawaii by the United States.
Born in Paradise
by Armine von Tempski
The autobiographical tale of childhood on a Maui ranch in the early part of this century. A classic account of old Hawaii, warm-spirited and evocative.
Hawaiian Islands Map
by Nelles
A map of all the individual Hawaiian Islands, including maps of O'ahu, Kaua'i, Maui, Moloka'i and Lana'i at 1:150,000 and of Hawai'i at 1:330,000. Includes an inset map of Waikiki.
Beyond Paradise: Encounters in Hawaii Where the Tour Bus Never Runs
by Peter S. Adler
A clear-sighted account of rambles and adventures in Hawaii.
Hawaii, Travellers' Wildlife Guides
by Les Beletsky
This all-around field guide features color illustrations of commonly encountered birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish with notes on Hawaii's geology and popular parks and reserves.
Nation Within, The History of the American Occupation of Hawai'i
by Tom Coffman
Coffman follows the rising tensions between the U.S. and the once-independent Hawaii through the late 19th century, documenting how the native population resisted annexation.
Plague And Fire, Battling Black Death And the 1900 Burning of Honolulu's Chinatown
by James C. Mohr
Mohr relates the gripping tale of the bubonic plague that reached Hawaii's shores just as the islands were about to become a U.S. territory through the eyes of the people caught up in the vast conflagration that engulfed Honolulu's Chinatown.
Hawaii
by James Michener
A romantic, fictional overview of the islands' history, people and culture from prehistoric times to statehood in 1959.
Paradise Remade, The Politics of Culture and History in Hawaii
by Elizabeth Bentzel Buck
By focusing on the experience of the indigenous people of Hawaii rather than on that of their colonizers, Buck considers the transformation of Hawaiian culture over the past 200 years.
Hawaii, Islands Under the Influence
by Noel J. Kent
A history of economic development in the islands from sandalwood and whaling to sugar, tourism and Japanese investment in the 1980s.
Captive Paradise, A History of Hawaii
by James L. Haley
A fascinating history of America’s youngest (and, arguably, most unique) state. Historian and biographer James Haley charts Hawaii’s epic journey from kingdom to statehood with authority.
Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen
by Liliuokalani
A poignant plea for sovereignty. Queen Liliuokalani, deposed by the United States in 1893, tells the story of her islands.
Hawaii Wildlife
by James Kavanagh
A fold-up, laminated card featuring color drawings and short descriptions of commonly encountered birds, mammals and other critters of Hawaii.
Hawaii's Fishes, A Guide for Snorkelers, Divers, and Aquarists
by John P. Hoover
A colorful and thorough introduction to the fishes living off Hawaii's shores. Color photographs of over 250 local species, with common names in English and Hawaiian.
Hawaiian Mythology
by Martha Warren Beckwith
A classic study of Hawaiian ethnography and folklore.
Lost Kingdom
by Julia Flynn Siler
Royalty and rogues, sugar barons, politicians and missionaries all figure in Siler's riveting tale of Liliuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii.
Eyewitness Guide Hawaii
by Eyewitness Guides
An on-the-ground guide to the Hawaiian Islands -- handsome, comprehensive and superb.
Feathered Gods and Fishhooks, An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory
by Patrick Vinton Kirch
In this definitive, well-illustrated introduction to Hawaiian archaeology, Kirch provides an island-by-island overview of major sites, settlement patterns, agriculture, and cultural customs.
From a Native Daughter, Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii
by Haunani-Kay Trask
Trask, a descendant of the Pi'ilani line of Maui and the Kahakumakaliua line of Kauai, explores issues of racism and imperialism in Hawaii, documenting the work of native Hawaiian student organizations and the native Hawaiian self-governing organization Ka Lahuni Hawaii.
Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands
by Gavan Daws
A vivid, scholarly history of Hawaii, from Cook's first visit to the islands in 1778 through statehood. A classic, well-told history, first published in 1968.
A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific
by H. Douglas Pratt
This landmark field guide with chapters on the islands and habitats features superb color plates by Pratt and a checklist of birds.
The Island Edge of America, A Political History of Hawaii
by Tom Coffman
Journalist Tom Coffman brings Hawaii's story into the twentieth century through this reinterpretation of major events leading up to and following statehood in 1959.
Pearl Harbor and Military Environs
by McElfresh Map Company
A detailed map of the US bases bombed at Pearl Harbor. The reverse features period postcard images depicting 1940s Pearl Harbor.
At Dawn We Slept, The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor
by Gordon W. Prange
A massive account of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, long but readable.
Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii
by Mark Twain
These observant and often wildly hilarious letters from an 1866 trip display Twain's famous wit.
Hotel Honolulu
by Paul Theroux
This hilarious sendup of ex-pats and their ilk, drawing on Theroux's time in the islands, where he has a home, features a full cast of eccentrics who reside in and visit a fleabag hotel on the coast of Oahu.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
by Trails Illustrated
This handy map, with trails and visitor information, includes the entire park area.
