Hawaii has been referred to as the crossroads of the Pacific. This book illustrates how many world cultures and customs meet in the Hawaiian Islands, providing a chronological overview highlighted by extracts from important works that express Hawaii's unique history. This work starts with chronological chapters on general and ancient Hawaiian history and continues through early Western contact, the 19th century, and Hawaii's annexation to the United States. Topics include politics, religion, social issues, business, ethnic groups, and race relations.

When war struck December 7, 1941, the people of Hawaii were not unprepared. Within minutes after bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, a well-rehearsed disaster relief plan went into full operation. Thousands of volunteers of all ages and races toiled selflessly to bring order out of chaos. Even before the pall of smoke had died away, air raid trenches had begun to crisscross lawns. By nightfall, windows were blacked out, curfew stilled the darkness, and citizen-soldiers stood girded for a last-ditch fight. During the following tension-ridden days, the entire populace was fingerprinted and inoculated; gas masks were issued and evacuation kits prepared. Barbed wire entanglements, taped windows, sandbag barricades, camouflaged buildings, gas alarms—everywhere were constant, grim reminders of total war. No other American community felt the tensions and shapeless fears the Islands knew during those first months after Pearl Harbor. And, as the Pacific war progressed, no other American community felt its impact so much as Hawaii. Headquarters area, training, staging, and supply area, repair base—Hawaii served as the springboard of the Pacific offensive. Hordes of troops and war workers deluged the Islands; land and buildings were taken over by the armed forces. Controls of every type plagued businesses and individuals. No phase of Island living was left untouched by the war. Hawaii's War Years, 1941–1945, the official history of Hawaii's dramatic part in World War II, is a comprehensive, unbiased account based on material collected over a six-year period by the Hawaii War Records Depository. Written by an Island newspaperwoman with the proper perspective for a subject of such scope, the book does not attempt to render judgments. It is primarily a book of record, a straightforward presentation of facts.

Pearl Harbor. December 7, 1941--in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, "a date which will live in infamy." More than 350 Japanese bombers, fighters, and torpedo planes struck Hawai'i in two waves, sinking or disabling eighteen ships and destroying more than two hundred aircraft. Close to 2,500 American military and civilians died that morning, another 1,178 were wounded. The Hawaiian Islands had been pulled into the Pacific War and the lives of its citizens were irrevocably changed. Hawai'i Chronicles III: World War Two in Hawai'i looks at the human and social impact of the war on the people of Hawai'i from 1938, when speculation of a Pacific War first surfaced, to the era of postwar prosperity that followed. Editor Bob Dye has selected articles that originally appeared in the popular monthly magazine Paradise of the Pacific (now known as Honolulu magazine). An introduction describes the history of the magazine and the colorful characters who published and edited it. Dye then poses the question: How did Hawai'i's citizenry cope with the war? Blackouts, media censorship, gas and food rationing were imposed. Schools were commandeered, jobs were changed or modified to support the war effort (lei makers were set to making camouflage netting). And soldiers were everywhere: stringing barbed wire (along Waikiki Beach!), guarding public buildings and searching anyone who entered, worrying parents when they dated their daughters. Paradise of the Pacific provided its readers with an informative, perceptive, and often entertaining look at these and other everyday experiences of life in wartime Hawai'i.

Jan. 7-10, 15, and 17 hearings were held in Honolulu, Hawaii; Jan. 11 hearing was held in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii; Jan. 12 hearings were held in Hoolehua, Hawaii, and Kalamaula, Hawaii; Jan. 13 hearing was held in Konawaena, Hawaii; Jan. 14 hearings were held in Hawaii National Park and Hilo, Hawaii; Jan. 18 hearing was held in Lihue, Hawaii.