The classic, full-length biography of Hawaii's first king by the award-winning, New York Times–bestselling author of Guadalcanal Diary. King Kamehameha I is the most monumental figure in Hawaiian history. A glorious warrior, a wise diplomat, and a keen administrator, he established peace among warring tribes and was the first Polynesian ruler to conquer, unite, and rule over all the Hawaiian Islands. He grew to be a giant of a man at six feet, six inches, and his natural athletic and amorous prowess could not be denied. Kamehameha epitomized the highest Hawaiian values of pure beauty, freedom, and power. In The Warrior King, author Richard Tregaskis threads his way through legend and history to recreate the life of Kamehameha. He recounts the king's youth spent in exile and his exciting career as a leader and fighter in bloody battles featuring hand-to-hand combat and cannons. He examines Kamehameha's stormy love life, including his twenty-two wives, his fifty children, and his marriage to his most beloved queen, Ka'ahumanu. Through it all, Kamehameha remained faithful to the mores of his culture and religion, even as native Hawaiian life changed with the arrival of Europeans and Americans. First published in 1973, this colorful and compelling biography captures the life and achievements of the legendary young man who fulfilled prophecy by moving the Naha Stone, a massive black lava rock that foretold the coming of a great king, and went on to unite his people.
Author
Richard Tregaskis was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on November 28, 1916, and educated at the Pingrie Day School for Boys, Elizabeth, New Jersey, at Peddie School, Hightstonsic, New Jersey, and at Harvard University. Prior to World War II he worked as a journalist for the Boston Herald newspaper. Shortly after the U.S. entered World War II, Tregaskis volunteered as a combat correspondent representing the International News Service. (In fact, Tregaskis was one of only two journalists on location at Guadalcanal.) Assigned to cover the war in the Pacific, Tregaskis spent part of August and most of September, 1942 reporting on Marines on Guadalcanal, a pivotal campaign in the war against Japan. He subsequently covered the European Theater of Operations against Nazi Germany and Italy. Tregaskis' most renowned book, Guadalcanal Diary, recorded his experiences with the Marines on Guadalcanal. As the jacket of the book's first edition noted, "This is a new chapter in the story of the United States Marines. Because it was written by a crack newspaperman, who knew how to do his job... Until the author's departure in a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber on September 26th, he ate, slept, and sweated with our front-line units. His story is the straight day-by-day account of what he himself saw or learned from eyewitnesses during those seven weeks." As a testimony to the power of Tregaskis' writing, ''Guadalcanal Diary'' is still considered essential reading by present-day U.S. military personnel. (A modern edition is available with an introduction by [[Mark Bowden]], author of Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Tregaskis later covered Cold War-era conflicts in China, Korea, and Vietnam. Tregaskis died at age 56 near his home in Hawaii as a result of drowning.
