The Story
From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Hiltzik, a definitive new history of California—from the Spanish conquistadors to the gold rush to the state’s meteoric rise as a tech powerhouse and bulwark of progressivism—and of its indelible mark on the United States and the world.
California has long reigned as the land of plenty, a place where the sun always shines and opportunity beckons. Even prior to its statehood in 1850, it captured the world’s imagination. We think of bearded prospectors lured by the promise of gold; we imagine its early embrace of immigrant labor during the railroad boom as a prologue to its diverse social fabric today. But what lies underneath the myth is far more complicated.
Thanks to extensive research by Hiltzik, a longstanding voice on the subject of California, Golden State uncovers the unvarnished truth about the state we think we know well. From Spanish incursions into what became known as Alta California to the rise of Big Tech, the history of California is one of stark contradictions.
- 448 pages
- Hardcover
Description
From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Hiltzik, a definitive new history of California—from the Spanish conquistadors to the gold rush to the state’s meteoric rise as a tech powerhouse and bulwark of progressivism—and of its indelible mark on the United States and the world.
California has long reigned as the land of plenty, a place where the sun always shines and opportunity beckons. Even prior to its statehood in 1850, it captured the world’s imagination. We think of bearded prospectors lured by the promise of gold; we imagine its early embrace of immigrant labor during the railroad boom as a prologue to its diverse social fabric today. But what lies underneath the myth is far more complicated.
Thanks to extensive research by Hiltzik, a longstanding voice on the subject of California, Golden State uncovers the unvarnished truth about the state we think we know well. From Spanish incursions into what became known as Alta California to the rise of Big Tech, the history of California is one of stark contradictions.
- 448 pages
- Hardcover
