Editorial Reviews. From Booklist. In , California had a population of 36 million and the.
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This is a great and quick summary of a pretty remarkable history. I'm biased, of course, but Starr covers a lot in relatively few pages. There were some chapters that were tedious and tiresome, but I learned some new and interesting things. Jul 28, Marcia Kreutzmann rated it really liked it.
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Kevin Starr's style of writing a just a bit overly verbose for me but otherwise, a very informative book. I'm a native so I have a high interest in learning the history both the good, the bad and the tragic of this state. Fairly academic as one should expect from a history book but also written in a narrative way that gives story-like quality to the subject matter.
Highly recommend for anyone pursuing an all encompassing, yet not daunting, portrait of California history. And because he loved his state so much. A good jumping point, and a nice read to have as a course book. Nov 01, Asya rated it it was amazing Shelves: Captivating synthesis of Starr's 7-volume history of the state, told through colorful, accessible, fast-paced narrative.
Popular history at its best, and an inspired and opinionated history of a fascinating state. Aug 26, Alex rated it liked it. Ambitious telling of the history of the worlds 5th largest economy from native inhabitants to the gold rush. From Reagan to Arnold. Gets thin at times. Dry and history bookish at times.
Despite its faults I would recommend the audiobook to accompany your commute. A good general history of California that gives just enough detail that you feel satisfied while being quite readable. Nov 16, Jason Tudor rated it it was amazing. A really fantastic, detailed accounting of my home state with so many wonderful discoveries. Must read for anyone claiming California home! Sep 13, N. Savarani rated it it was amazing. Really easy to read, lots of great information! I would highly recommend if you are interested in learning more about CA history. Nov 05, Aaron Calvert rated it really liked it.
This an admirable effort for such a short book.
California: A History
Jan 10, Amanda rated it really liked it. This state is nuts. Jul 07, Jess rated it liked it Shelves: Mar 14, Warren rated it really liked it Shelves: Exactly what I'd been looking for. A comprehensive history of CA in a digestible size. Really enjoyed reading this book. Like the state he writes about Kevin Starr is a remarkable figure. I first became acquainted with a book he wrote a long time ago called Americans and the California Dream Americans and the California Dream, - That morphed into a five volume intellectual history of the state. So I am admittedly a biased reviewer. This volume is the survey course of a history of California.
But unlike most survey courses, even for someone who h Like the state he writes about Kevin Starr is a remarkable figure. But unlike most survey courses, even for someone who has read a lot of California history, this one also packs some meat.
It follows the story from first recorded history to about the time of the recall of Governor Davis. But you would also learn about the self-consciousness of Californians almost from the early days. If you haven't read a history of California - this is a great place to start. If you are like I am someone who is very interested in the subject - this is a great refresher.
Mar 23, Marcia rated it really liked it Shelves: I'm currently at the point where some techy guys are inventing semiconductor technology. That's really as far as I am interested in reading. Everything from that point is fairly familiar to me. I don't think I'll finish the book. That's not an indication that it's a bad book, actually it's a very good book for what it is, maybe even an excellent book for what it is.
I bought this book because I've been living in California for 13 years now and I knew very little about California history. I figured I should try to make myself a better citizen of my new home state by educating myself. This book has been easy to read and despite the fact that it's nonfiction there are parts that are actually pretty interesting.
I'm just not into nonfiction. As far as the reviews saying that a few fact are wrong- I honestly couldn't care less about that. Does it matter to me if something happened in the Autumn of and the book says it was Spring of ? No, not even a little. I just wanted a good overview of the state's history and I feel like I got just that. Dec 29, Lucas rated it liked it Shelves: Earlier history about people and events I knew very little about were interesting, but later sections contained no more information than I'd already absorbed from headlines or bits of television news during the events.
I'm curious about what happened after the stories lost coverage in the news, but that is exactly where this book moves on to another topic. What came after the energy crises that followed deregulation, or after Shwarzeneggers attempts to balance the budget? The origin of the state Earlier history about people and events I knew very little about were interesting, but later sections contained no more information than I'd already absorbed from headlines or bits of television news during the events. The origin of the state as a military acquisition is fascinating: The end result was a redistribution of wealth to the lawyers paid in parts the land they were defending the titles to.
I think a similar story plays out in the cases of other annexations or national land purchases- Manifest Destiny can be viewed in one light as a massive socialist endeavour, ironically with the recipients of the land hand-outs and later occupants frequently viewing themselves as self-made rugged individualists. Aug 31, Tori rated it really liked it Shelves: What a surprisingly great read!
A friend loaned me this book, and I thought I'd start it out of politeness. But - I ended up reading the whole thing! This is a history of California from the time of the explorers we learned about in elementary school. It was fascinating to learn about a number of people whose names have been placed on streets and schools all over California, and to learn who they were! Not that I'll remember, but it still was interesting. It w What a surprisingly great read!
It was also interesting to learn what life was like in the early 's in San Francisco - it wasn't all that much before my parents lived there! Also, having been on an Emperor Norton tour of San Francisco a few years ago, it was interesting to read about him.
Chronicles
It was such a treat to read about various problems that confronted the state and yet to see how these particular problems lead either to the strength to persevere in spite of difficulties, or to creative solutions. More than anything, though, I was impressed by the research that Starr did - and the smoothness of the read. Apr 13, Gil Bradshaw rated it it was amazing. I listened to this audiobook while making a road trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco! This is a great audiobook and the narrator is very good at Spanish and French--making this a fun read.
I didn't know anything about the pre political structure of California and this book shed light on the structure and polity. I also didn't realize how racist the argonauts were though I knew how horrible it was for the Chinese workers on the trans-continental railroad.
This book grew in I listened to this audiobook while making a road trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco! This book grew increasingly more interesting the more modern it became. I became more and more grateful towards my professors in college who made me read extensively about California's history.
In a way, I realized that many of my readings have focused on California's history, including many of the business biography books I have read which have become so integral to California's history like Steve Jobs, Disney War, The Smartest Guys in the Room, the books about biotech, etc. For a one-volume history of California you can't go wrong with this volume.
Modern Library Chronicles - Wikipedia
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Kevin Starr was an American historian, best-known for his multi-volume series on the history of California, collectively called "America and the California Dream". Other books in the series. Modern Library Chronicles 1 - 10 of 34 books. Books by Kevin Starr. See All Goodreads Deals…. No trivia or quizzes yet. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.
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Malcolm Errington The History of an Idea by Peter J. Bowler The Lost History of Christianity: Series description Modern Library Chronicles is a publisher's series, see note in green below for what is and isn't a LT series. Most if not all of the works listed on this page have been published by other publishing companies outside of the series, so do not belong here and are gradually being deleted.
Please to not place any work into this series without first checking to see that the title is available only as a part of Modern Library Chronicles and not found anywhere else. Related series Joanne Goodman Lectures. Related publisher series Modern Library Chronicles. Related book awards New York Times bestseller. Dayton Literary Peace Prize.
Louis XV, King of France.
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