Vowell has a great way of knocking the higher goals of historical figures - she cuts through the hyposcrisy really well - and at the same time elevating the intentions of these very human people.

The people populating this book are the Hawaiians (both royal and common), missionaries, military, Mormons, and politicians. Then Vowell proceeds to illustrate, in her own biting fashion, how these guys interact. Like all of Vowell's books, I was struck by the intricacy of the history...no matter what we may think, the world is small, and has always been so. Everything is interconnected. School systems, political systems, etc., they are all tied together. Sometimes you forget (or didn't even know, in some cases) how the reconstructionist Mississippi constitution influenced the writing of the second Hawaiian constitution.

My only problem with this book was that I didn't fall in love with it quite as much as her other books. Though she still has hilarious insights that make you go 'so true' - like this one: "I envy a people [she is referring to the Hawaiians] who celebrate their leaders' private parts - that they love those leaders so much they want them making newer, younger versions to tell the next generation what to do. In the democratic republic where I live, any politician whose genitals have made the news probably isn't going to see his name on a ballot again."

~Jenny
Place for the Stolen
Under Ground Writing Project