The Colony: A Harrowing Account of the Exile of Molokai's People

Carrie B.: An eye opening book. How a disease, the legal system, revolutionary medicine, and politics changed the lives of so many that we never knew about.

United States on Aug 22, 2023

Timothy Haugh: I was recently fortunate enough to travel to Hawaii. While there, it had been one of my goals to visit the former leper colony on Molokai (which is now a National Park). This turned out to be considerable more difficult than I expected and I was unable to make the journey; however, in advance of my hoped-for trip, I read this book. In it, Mr. Tayman has provided a detailed, yet readable, history of leprosy in Hawaii.

As a Catholic, I was initially interested in the recently canonized saints, Damien and Marianne Cope, who spent decades working with the exiles on Molokai. Certainly, Mr. Tayman gives them their due. Fr. Damien, who was only meant to spend a few months on the island, is thrust into fame, and spends the rest of his life there, eventually contracting the disease himself. Sr. Marianne, on the other hand, leads a group of nuns to the island and works for decades before succumbing to old age.

However, Mr. Tayman has much more to tell us than the story of two saints. He describes the origin of the colony in the nineteenth century and the struggle of making it even barely functional in its early years. He recounts its rise to prominence/infamy with famous...

United States on Aug 08, 2018

Amazon Customer: It was good, very informative

Canada on Mar 05, 2018

Laura O'Reilly: Heart breaking story. You become deeply involved in this narrative. You will cry and laugh and be inspired. Couldn't put this book down.

Canada on Jul 19, 2016

Marti: We are visiting Molokai this winter so that is why I ordered this book. It arrived in excellent condition and very promptly.
Well written and so interesting. An excellent read that gave me so much insight into Father Damien and Hansens disease.

Canada on Jul 03, 2014

David Griffith: Although cheap to buy, I did not expect to find several underlined sections and marked paragraphs by the previous owner, which distracts reading and spoils the book! Almost every page defaced.

United Kingdom on Apr 07, 2013

AJC: The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai by John Tayman tells the full history of the Leper Colony on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. It is a wonderful work of fact, detail, history, and emotion. The author does a wonderful job of piecing together those stories we hear in the background about the history of Hawaii, public health, and how we approached the treatment of Hanson's disease in the United States. John Tayman reveals to us how, when it comes to public health, the road to hell can be paved in our own back yards. It is a story of fear, ignorance, bad science, and bad public policy. The word "Hawaii" in most our minds conjures up pictures of palm and orchid covered islands surrounded by blue waters. But, at one time in its history and ours it was synonomous with the word "leprosy." While we may be somewhat familiar with the life and works of Blessed Damien, this book fills in the blanks. This is a story of real charity and sacrifice, not your Hollywood self-egrandizing charity, but a story of folks, who despite the worst intentions of men and government sacrificed their lives to those in need of love and care. It is a history of how society handles the...

United States on Jan 08, 2007

Russell A. Rohde MD: "The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai," John Tayman, NY, Scribner 2006, ISBN: 10: 0-7432-3300-2, HC 318 (421) pgs., Includes 3 pg. Contents/maps, 2 pg. Pref., Notes 68 pg., Biblio. 10 pg., Index 21 pg., 9 1/4" x 6 1/4" with 51 B/W photos favorably provided.

A writer with diverse, significant editorships, Tayman devoted c. 2 years of research, traveling to Hawaii, first to Molokai's Kalaupapa, site of the leper colony to speak with locals & then off to Honolulu to study archival accounts in libraries, newspapers, journals & governmental reports to provide "truthiness" to his book; he also conversed with several "extraordinary individuals" who had significant lengthy incarcerations as lepers of Molokai.

The author gives a skillful chronicle of leprosy (now Hansen's dis.) a Biblical incurable affliction associated with sin & shame, but how known to be caused by bacillus Mycobact. leprae in geneticaly susceptible individuals carying PARK2 & PACRG gene variants, & with modern 3-week triple therapy is curable & negates "once a leper, always a leper." Possibly introduced by ship from Macao in 1819, an epidemic led to...

United States on Feb 08, 2006