The First Strange Place

In this lively, evocative look at men and women who went to Hawaii from the mainland during WW II, Bailey and Farber, history professors at Barnard College in New York City, concentrate on how they sought to bridge the cultural and racial gaps that isolated them from the islanders. Representative malahini (newcomers) discussed here include a shipyard worker, an officer in charge of preparing Marines for the assault on Iwo Jima, an African American soldier who had to deal with a more complicated racism than he had encountered at home, an enterprising prostitute from Chicago and a military policeman assigned to Honolulu's Hotel Street, where the brothels were located. The study is novelistic in its revelation of character and sense of place. (Jan.)