A group of white Hawaiians in the 1890's desperately want to unite Hawaii with the United States, but they can't because the native Hawaiians don't want to give up their kingdom, the Hawaiian monarchy doesn't want to depose itself, and the United States, as it turns out, doesn't want them, anyway. Jonah Christian, is a fallen missionary who never really wanted to be a missionary in the first place. After losing his career through an embarrassingly public encounter with native sexual mores, he seeks redemption as the assistant to a politician who turns out to be the leader of the conspiracy to overthrow the queen. Once the conspirators successfully execute the revolution, they immediately proceed to Washington to offer up the Islands to the United States. They are shocked to discover that not only are they not wanted, but the new American administration has decided to overturn their revolution and reinstate the Queen, who not incidentally has vowed to cut off their heads. They get a crash course in congressional political skullduggery as they learn how business in the nation's capital is actually done. They fight for a Senate resolution to force President Cleveland to leave them alone, thereby allowing them to keep their islands and their heads. These are the awkward origins of American imperialism. For anyone who ever wondered how the United States transformed itself from a country devoted to non-intervention into an imperial power, this is that story.