As Napoleon Bonaparte said, “;Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu'un long discours,”; which translates roughly to “;A good sketch is better than a long speech.”; You know the proverb better as “;A picture is worth a thousand words,”; and just think of how many words were saved by the publication of the Star-Bulletin's “;Hawai'i 50—Five Decades of Photography.”;

  As Hawaii hits the half-century mark as a state, the changes in the islands have been many and complex. The newspaper's staff photographers have taken dozens of pictures every day of those 50 years, so you can imagine the miles of film and stacks of prints the photo staff and editors from Mutual Publishing had to make sense of. The result is a stunning panorama of the islands in the last half of the 20th century.

“;More than 700 frames and it still feels like that only scratches the surface,”; said Star-Bulletin photo editor George F. Lee. “;So many stories to tell and this is just one collective take on the history of our state.

“;Though I've been here at the Star-Bulletin for only 12 years of the past 50, I really feel like I've gotten to know photographers like Warren Roll, Bob Young and Terry Luke better by looking at their images.”;

“;Hawai'i 50”; goes on sale in bookstores on Nov. 1, but is available directly from Star-Bulletin and MidWeek offices beginning Wednesday. It's also half-price at $25 ($26.18 with tax).

Order it online at specials.starbulletin.com/hawaii_50/ or through coupons you'll find in the newspaper (shipping charges apply).

The Star-Bulletin business office is in Suite 500, Building 7 in Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana Blvd. MidWeek is at 45-525 Luluku Road, Kaneohe. Pickup hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 529-4340.