Tom Coffman reading from "Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawai'i"

Tom Coffman
Reading from and Signing copies of the new edition of his classic book
Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawai'i

"The best single book on annexation." -- The Nation Magazine

Sunday, August 16, 2:00 p.m., at Native Books/Na Mea Hawai'i, Ward Warehouse, Honolulu

America's long century of imperial adventures began with the illegal occupation of Hawai'i. In Nation Within, historian/journalist Tom Coffman tells the heartfelt story of Hawaii's resistance to annexation, both in Washington and Honolulu, and the role of Theodore Roosevelt and others who fueled America's drive for global power. Tom Coffman's reading will be followed by a roundtable discussion at 3:00 pm on how new information can help us envision a new future, moderated by attorney/activist Poka Laenui, and introduced by Hawaii Pacific University Assistant Professor Lynette Cruz.

See review snippets of the book in the extended entry...

"Nation Within is a refreshing new look at a Hawai‘i known to most Americans for Pearl Harbor and beautiful beaches. This book gives us the untold story, the history we were not given in school, placing Hawai‘i inside the larger picture of U.S. expansion into the Pacific. What we learn is sobering, and fascinating." -- Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States

"What I found most valuable about this work was his portrayal of the republic as an opportunistic masquerade of democratic ideals that swindled an entire nation of its inheritance. In no other history that I’ve seen is the cynical and manipulative nature of annexation so clearly displayed. His ironic recounting of how voting under the republic was to be constructed in such a way as to adopt all of the finest traditions of the Jim Crow South tells us all we need to know about the nature of the government that surrendered the nation of Hawai‘i to the United States." -- Jon Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio, author of Dismembering Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887, Professor of Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, from The Hawaiian Journal of History

"As a historian, Tom has done a tremendous job in revealing the events and circumstances that led to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government in 1893. More importantly, however, he unveils how the Queen and Hawaiian subjects were politically and legally astute and were able to organize themselves, in the aftermath of the overthrow, into a formidable political force that prevented the annexation of the country by treaty. While they succeeded in preventing the U.S. Senate from ratifying two attempts to annex the country by treaty, they were unable to prevent the U.S. Congress from unilaterally enacting a joint resolution of annexation (in the heat of the Spanish-American War) that served as the basis to illegally seize and occupy the nation of Hawai‘i for military purposes—an occupation that is now over a century long." --Dr. Keanu Sai, Political Scientist:

Native Books/Na Mea Hawai'i, Ward Warehouse, 1050 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu
Free and open to the public. For more information, contact Native Books at 596-8885 or Lynette Cruz at 284-3460.

Tom Coffman, Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawai'i, revised edition
Foreword by Manulani Aluli Meyer
For more information, visit www.hawaiinationwithin.com
Published by Koa Books, Kihei, Maui, Hawai'i
ISBN 9780982165607 - $20.00 Trade Paperback Original - 348 pages, with photos
Distributed to the trade by Native Books, Booklines, SCB Distributors

Posted: Wed - August 12, 2009 at 06:12 PM

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Tom Coffman reading from "Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawai'i"

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Tom Coffman reading from "Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawai'i"

What are "Ceded Lands" by Dr. Keanu Sai

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