Grapes of Canaan: Hawaii 1820 [Paperback]

Albertine Loomis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 11, 1998 | ISBN-10: 1881987124 | ISBN-13: 978-1881987123

The true story of Hawaii's Missionaries. Grapes of Canaan is a documentary novel about the first print shop between the Rockies and Asia in the 1820's. The printers were among a group of
missionaries who traveled from New England to
Hawaii to convert the natives to the Christian faith. Albertine Loomis. great-granddaughter of printer-religionists Elisha and Maria Loomis has told the story of her ancestors and the early years of their life in the islands. To read Grapes of Canaan is to begin an understanding of how present day Hawaii came to be.

Product Details

• Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: Ox Bow Press (June 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881987124
• ISBN-13: 978-1881987123
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Hawaiian History, January 12, 2009

By 

W. Hopper (Hawaii) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grapes of Canaan: Hawaii 1820 (Paperback)

read the Memoirs of Henry Obookiah first and then get this book. Great way to understand the Christian heritage of Hawaii.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Missionaries & Hawaii, 1820, December 24, 2009

By 

Margot Galt "Margot Fortunato Galt" (St. Paul, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

One of the best books I've read on the Missionary era in Hawaii, newly republished by the Mission Houses Museum, Honolulu, Albertine Loomis' Grapes of Caanan shows how the Islands' society was rapidly changing and disintegrating after a civil war and the end of the onerous tabu system. Into this chaos came New England missionaries, peddling a stern form of Christianity but a gentle, dedicated care for the Hawaiian people. Their individual sorrows and struggles, especially but not exclusively difficult for the women, draw readers into the core of their efforts. This was heightened by resistance from Western traders already established on the Islands who wanted nothing better than to remove resources, especially sandalwood, and undermine the native culture through alcohol and promiscuity. The native people themselves often had trouble deciding which Westerners to trust, but eventually many of their leaders fell in love with reading, which the missionaries thoroughly supported. Perhaps more than any other gifts to the Islands, the missionaries offered reading in the Hawaiian language and guidance in political resistance to Western powers and traders who wanted to co-opt the native government. A bit too much business history for my taste; otherwise a page-turner.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hawaii's Missionary History, January 24, 2001

By 

w. hopper (mililani, hi United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grapes of Canaan: Hawaii 1820 (Paperback)

This is an excellent, well written book covering the history of missions in Hawaii. It deals with the trials and triumphs of the haoles as they came to bring Christ to the island.