| Edition |
[First edition]. |
| Description |
328 pages : illustrations, maps (1 folded) portraits ; 22 cm |
| Form |
Also issued online. |
| Contents |
pt. 1. Eden before the fall -- pt. 2. The Ala Moana Case -- pt. 3. "Life is a mysterious and exciting affair" -- pt. 4. "The life of the land is perpetuated by righteousness" -- pt. 5. "The Territory of Hawaii vs. Grace Fortescue, et al." -- pt. 6. What happened? |
| Summary |
"It began as an ordinary quarrel between a young wife and her naval officer husband over whether or not to go to a dance. But with the quick virulence of plague, it spread through the Eden of pre-Pearl Harbor Hawaii, bringing violence and death, inflaming latent racial bitterness, corrupting justice and nearly toppling the Territorial government. The elements of the story were a sensation when they occurred in 1931: the lush, tropical background of Honolulu and its hard-drinking, easy-living naval colony; the lovely Washington girl, Thalia Fortescue Massie, whose accusation brought five Oriental boys to trial for rape; the killing of a defendant; the indictment of Thalia's mother and husband for murder; their defense by the famous criminal lawyer, Clarence Darrow; and the dramatic trial which aroused all Hawaii, turned the Navy against the civilian administration, and set Floyd Gibbons and the Hearst press to a campaign 'to make the streets of Honolulu safe for white women.' Now, when the tangled web that Thalia Massie wove can be seen more clearly, an even more dramatic, and surely more important, pattern emerges. For Hawaii, of course, the Massie Affair brought about a new political, economic and social era. For the U.S. as a whole, proud as we are of our enlightened attitude toward "underdeveloped peoples,' it brings a rough reminder of our once vigorous white-man's-burden colonialism. In this vivid reconstruction the author provides a new solution and an astonishing denou[nc]ement"--Book jacket. |
| Subject |
Massie, Thalia, 1911-1963.
|
| Other Form: |
Online version: Van Slingerland, Peter, 1929- Something terrible has happened. [1st ed.] New York, Harper & Row [1966] (OCoLC)572438051 |
|
