I took this book on vacation to Hawaii thinking it was apropos. It took about 30 seconds for me to fall asleep. I woke up with a huge sunburn. One question: Why would you read rules of court if you were in Hawaii. Go surfing man!

WOW, how dissappointed i was. You would think that if you are going to do a book on art one should at least be able to draw. I've seen better line art from a 3rd grader. How can i get a publisher that Naive???

This book is reading material- appears to be a workbook, maybe a companion book to a text somewhere? Anyhow, not worth purchasing unless this is what you want!

This book should pulled from the shelves. Not only is out of date, but I'm not sure whether the author(s) went on any of the hikes described. They may not have even visited the Big Island! The driving directions were difficult to understand because they were in some sort of short hand. In at least one case, the directions were just plain wrong. We were directed to "go north" when it was clear we had to go south. Further, the hikes were not accurately or fully described. Only buy this book if you want to get lost.

The book is of limited value because it does not describe or show the habit of the plant, shrub or tree on which the flower is blooming.

my friend went to hawaii.he loves it.i just want to buy the one for my mate.

The explanations and translations of the songs are interesting, but the lack of music diminishes the book's value considerably. I grew up in Hawaii, but knew very few of this book's songs. It may possibly be of interest to an aspiring Hawaiian musician or singer

The food and recipes look fabulous but alas, the recipes are unreliable. I tried the Lemon Tart ( I am an experienced cook) and it was more like sour lemon soup. I was suspicious when the recipe called for only 4 teaspoons of sugar and 1/2 cup of lemon juice so I expected it might not be sweet enough, how ever it was not only not sweet, it never thickened and the dough recipe yeilded shrinking dough! This book is one more reason why you should think twice before buying a book by a restaurant owner and professional chef. Skip it.

One of the major problems with this book is hinted at by the mixed messages on the cover. I found it (in a library) shelved under nonfiction, history of WWII while the back cover copy describes it as a 'novel'. The confusion is understandable. Albright begins with real historical events (the Russo-Japanese War, and the early stages of the Pearl Harbor attack) although in a superficial and novelized format. Then at the point where the Japanese attack in reality broke off and went home, Albright postulates further assaults both in the air and on the surface. Unfortunately, the left turn into alternate history isn't all that well marked. I spent quite a bit of time after the shift into fiction wondering if Albright had his facts wrong or if my previous reading on the subject had missed something.

The author information in the hardcover edition mentions that Albright, then a serving Army officer, was present at the Pearl Harbor attack. While this credential commands respect for him personally, it is of little help to him as a novelist. Since (past a certain point) the book is fiction, it demands the fiction writer's craft of drawing readers into the story. While Albright uses the tools of fiction -- directly quoted dialog, physical description of characters with speaking parts -- they aren't really handled adeptly. His idea might well have been better served by an essay format without the foray into fiction.

(Another problem, one in no way Albright's fault, is that in the years since his book appeared "alternate history" has become a lively fictional genre populated by talented storytellers such as Harry Turtledove. The genre has developed smooth methods of handling narrative problems -- such as conveying the real history, the alternate history, and the point where the two diverge, to readers all without tedious lectures -- which Albright was trying to solve entirely on his own. This unfortunately means that although alternate-history buffs would be the ideal audience for this work, they are also the audience most likely to judge it harshly.)

Unfortunately this book falls between two stools -- it's not quite a historical account of Pearl Harbor, and not quite a what-if novel on the same subject.

Caveat emptor! Despite the description above, this is not abook, paperback or otherwise. It is a CD of music, information onwhich can be found in the music section at Amazon...