James A. Michener Books

Long before a human voice was raised in song across these waters, Hawaii existed only as a promise beneath the waves. I begin the novel by tracing the geological origins of the islands, because to understand Hawaii’s story, one must grasp the staggering forces that shaped it. Volcanoes rise from the...

From Hawai'i

Across thousands of miles of open sea, the Polynesians began their voyage—fearless navigators guided by stars and swells rather than maps or metal compasses. When they reached the Hawaiian archipelago, they did not arrive as wanderers but as founders. I portray these first settlers as carriers of a ...

From Hawai'i

At the earliest stratum of Makor’s soil lie the remnants of the Ur family, primitive settlers whose story I use to illustrate the dawn of human community. They are not historical figures as such, but symbols of early man’s struggle to rise from fear into faith. Here, food and survival dominate every...

From The Source

As the centuries accumulate, the people at Makor develop civic life, and with it, organized religion. The age of the Canaanites blossoms—a world alive with temples, altars, and vivid sacrifices to gods of thunder and fertility, Baal and El. Through these scenes, I wished to portray the beauty and br...

From The Source