Categorized | Books, Entertainment

Book review: The Battle of Nu’uanu 1795

Finn Gallager | Hawaii 24/7 Student Reporter

This book is a very interesting history of the famous battle of Nu’uanu. From all of the information of the battle positions and movements of the warriors to the oddly shaped but awesome weapons, Neil Bernard Dukas writes the perfect Hawaiian information guide for this battle of Nu’uanu.

What I thought that was most interesting about this book is that it included several photographs from today, paintings and drawings of the battle and the warriors, and lots of maps to tell you what happened where, where to go to see each cliff, valley parts, and vantage points of the battle.

I liked the book, but I would much rather experience the actual historical landmarks of Nu’uanu then read about it and imagine it.

What I really didn’t find appealing in this book is that it didn’t have a lot of feeling in the writing, but then again what informational guide has that feeling in the writing? Maybe that’s what the author meant. Now I have to go see it for myself to understand the real feeling.

But overall I would say this book deserves 4 Hawaiian thumbs up.

(Gallagher is a freshman at Konawaena High School. He enjoys playing tennis, playing video games and reading. He counts Dan Brown among his favorite authors and ‘Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing’ among his all-time favorite books.)

MEDIA RELEASE

Mutual Publishing and historian Neil Bernard Dukas are proud to announce the publication of A Pocket Guide to the Battle of Nu‘uanu, an easy-to-follow and richly illustrated guide to this historic battle and its tragic conclusion.

Many are familiar with Herb Kawainui Kane’s iconic painting, “The Battle at Nu‘uanu Pali”, which depicts Kamehameha’s men driving Kalanikupule’s forces off the edge of the cliff. But fewer know that at the time, 1795, the Hawaiian armies rivaled that of the U.S. in tactical sophistication and far outnumbered them.

In fact, Dukas contends, the Battle of Nu‘uanu ranks along with Yorktown, New Orleans, the Alamo, Gettysburg, and Little Bighorn as one of the more momentous clashes of arms to have ever taken place on what is now American soil.

In this thoroughly researched book, Dukas describes Kalanikupule’s seizure of English merchant vessels, Kamehameha’s journey from the Big Island to Oahu, the initial clashes at the foot of Puowaina (Punchbowl), the death of Kaiana and evacuation of Kalanikupule, and the allied warriors’ final moments at the edge of the Pali.

Illustrations, historical and contemporary photographs, driving directions, and maps — along with a step-by-step account of the events of April and May 1795 — will help you recreate in your mind’s eye this bloody and pivotal battle, one of the major events leading to the unification of the Hawaiian Islands.

A Pocket Guide to the Battle of Nu‘uanu will be released by Mutual Publishing on Aug. 1, 2010, and retails for $9.95. Available for sale wherever books are sold.

Neil Bernard Dukas, author of A Military History of Sovereign Hawaii (Mutual Publishing 2004), researches and writes about the military history of Hawaii, focusing on the years prior to annexation.

Originally from Ontario, Canada, he has a bachelor’s degree in political studies from Queens University, and a master’s degree in humanities from California State University Dominguez Hills. A former Dean of Instruction at Heald College (Honolulu Campus), Dukas is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the National Coalition of Independent Scholars.

He is also an avid hiker, conservancy advocate, and horseman.

— Find out more:
www.mutualpublishing.com

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