Arts and Humanities Commons^™

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

Swiss American Historical Society Review

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 …