Niklaus R. Schweizer, His Hawaiian Excellency, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1987, $54.00. 267 pp.

Authors

David Beck

Keywords

book review, SAHS, Niklaus R. Schweizer, His Hawaiian Excellency

Abstract

As historical fiction, His Hawaiian Excellency cannot be judged wholly as history nor as fiction. The author himself faced different problems than a historian normally does in creating his work. Therefore, different questions must be asked, when judging the success of this work, than would be asked if it were a more standard historical piece. Most important among these are whether the work accurately represents the sources, and whether the author tells a good story. In addition, the author's purposes must be taken into account: are these successfully met? Schweizer sets out to "shed some light on a colorful and moving chapter of Hawaiian history," the American (United States) annexation of Hawaii. Because there are aspects of this tale which are relatively unknown to the general public, he wants to reach "a wider circle than the small group intimately acquainted with the story of Hawaii" (p . 7). Presumably this is why he chose historical fiction as his medium.

Recommended Citation

Beck, David (1989) "Niklaus R. Schweizer, His Hawaiian Excellency, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1987, $54.00. 267 pp.," Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 25: No. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol25/iss1/5