Golden State : the making of California / Michael Hiltzik.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hiltzik, Michael A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

California--History.

California.

California--Civilization.

Physical Description:

x, 436 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Mariner Books, [2025]

Summary:

"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 remember the Gold Rush era for bearded prospectors lured by riches; we think of its early embrace of immigrant labor during the railroad boom as prologue to its diverse social fabric today. But what lies underneath the myth is far more complicated. Thanks to extensive research by Michael Hiltzik, one of our longstanding voices on 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. In rich, previously overlooked detail, we see its earliest statesmen wreak havoc among native peoples while racing to draft their own constitution even ahead of statehood. We follow gold-hungry settlers who venture into the Sierra foothills only to leave with little, while a handful of their suppliers turn themselves into millionaire railroad magnates. We witness wars erupt in the name of water as Los Angeles booms and see early efforts to tame the vast landscape create a haven for fossil fuel extraction and environmental conservation alike. Hollywood politicians stoke fear in a centuries-long tradition of anti-Asian violence, and, remarkably, legal redlining and free higher education take root together. Golden State brings a fresh critical eye to the origins of the state against which the rest of the country measures itself. From its very start, Hiltzik shows, the story of the United States was written in California"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

California, Land of Contradictions

A Terrestrial Paradise

The Americans Arrive

The Bear Flag Revolt

The Sordid Cry of Gold

The Thirty-First Star

The Age of Genocide

"The Chinese Must Go" : San Francisco After the Gold Rush

The Octopus

The Shadow of Mussel Slough

The First Water War

"City of the Damned"

The Progressive Revolution

John Muir and the Battle for Conservation

Conjuring Los Angeles

Ghosts of the Owens Valley

The Utopians

The Selling of Richard Nixon

Executive Order 9066

Tomorrowland

Ronald Reagan and the Legacy of Pat Brown

La Causa

Disaster at Platform A

Six Days in Watts

The Crisis of Growth

Keeping the California Dream Alive.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Hiltzik, Michael A. Golden State

ISBN:

9780358539346

035853934X

OCLC:

1430653371