Pacific Eldorado
A History of Greater California
1. Auflage Dezember 2012
434 Seiten, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
PACIFIC ELDORADO
PACIFIC ELDORADO A HISTORY OF GREATER CALIFORNIA
California's rich and complex history has long been shaped by its relationship with the vast ocean along its western shores. Pacific Eldorado: A History of Greater California presents the first comprehensive text to explore the entire sweep of California's past in relationship to the maritime world of the Pacific Basin. Noted historian Thomas J. Osborne dispels the commonly held notion of pre-Gold Rush California as a remote and isolated backwater. He traces the evolution of America's most populous state from the time of prehistoric Asian seafarers and sixteenth-century Spanish explorers through to its emergence in the modern world as a region whose unmatched resources and global influence have rendered it a veritable super state -- a Greater California whose history has far exceeded its geographical boundaries. Interspersed throughout the text are "Pacific Profiles," brief chronicles of notable figures who have made an impact on the state's history. At once scholarly and accessible, Pacific Eldorado offers a strikingly original interpretation of the origins and evolution of an extraordinary American state.
1. Beginnings: From Fire and Ice to Indian Homeland
2. Spain's Greater California Coast
3. A Globally Connected Mexican Province
4. War and Gold: America's West Coast Eldorado
5. National Crisis, Statehood, and Social Change
6. Pacific-bound Rails, Hard Times, and Chinese Exclusion
7. Eldorado's Economic and Cultural Growth
8. Anti-Railroad Politics, Municipal Graft, and Labor Struggles
9. Governor Hiram Johnson and the Progressive Movement
10. Good Times and Bad: The Interwar Years
11. America's Pacific Bulwark: WW II and Its Aftermath
12. Liberalism at High Tide
13. The Conservative Backlash and the Politics of Limits
14. The Ongoing Pacific Shift
Appendixes: A Chronology of California History; Governors of California
Index
"Osborne... does a very good job of updating standard narratives and finding a way to pull them together." (Southern California Quarterly, 1 May 2013)
"Pacific Eldorado is an innovative and compelling account of California history, and it also offers so much more than a standard textbook. Thomas Osborne has brilliantly placed California in its 'greater' geographic and historical setting--the Pacific Basin--and he has done so in a highly accessible way for students and scholars. This is a tremendous achievement." --David Igler, University of California, Irvine
"A fresh and compelling interpretation of California history that places the state in a new and welcome perspective. This book, in other words, delivers on the promise of its title." --Glenna Matthews, author of The Golden State in the Civil War: Thomas Starr King, the Republican Party, and the Birth of Modern California
"In this splendid volume, Thomas Osborne offers a striking reformulation of prevailing interpretations of California history by introducing the concept of Pacific Eldorado, which elucidates the significant, but heretofore largely unexplored, connections between California and the Pacific world." --Spencer C. Olin, University of California, Irvine
"From prehistory to the 2010 election, this book masterfully makes California history new and richly engaging. With its compelling human stories and wealth of illustrations, Pacific Eldorado draws us in and keeps us reading. I regretted reaching the end." --Janet Farrell Brodie, Claremont Graduate University
"A fresh and lively contribution to the history of California." --Kerwin Klein, University of California, Berkeley
"Utilizing the latest research, Pacific Eldorado captivates the reader with a balanced, up-to-date, innovative history of California with a Pacific edge. Informative, memorable, and highly recommended!" --Nancy Taniguchi, California State University, Stanislaus
"Smartly synthesizes 500 years of California history, from its shifting bedrock to its evolving social dynamics. . . . - a stellar rendering." --Char Miller, Pomona College, and author of Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism
"Thomas Osborne brings a new contribution to current discourse about California and its past to reveal a grand tapestry of connections and a multi-hemispheric pattern of interaction with the Pacific world." --from the Foreword by Janet Fireman, Loyola Marymount University
"Through the pages of Pacific Eldorado new content and important context about California's lively history beckons readers. This book explains how California's past informs its future."--Larry E. Burgess, Director, A.K. Smiley Public Library