This literary and cartographic exploration of Los Angeles reorients our understanding of the city in highly imaginative ways. Illuminated by boldly conceived and artfully rendered maps and infographics, nineteen essays by LA's most exciting writers…
In his signature larger-than-life style, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall is a revealing self-portrait of his illustrious, controversial, and truly unique life. The greatest immigrant success story of our time. His story is unique, and uniquely…
Now the subject of the hit documentary Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, praised by Vanity Fair as "full of revelations" and Entertainment Weekly as "deliciously salacious," Full Service is the remarkable true story of Scotty Bowers, the "…
The very first picture book about the remarkable and inspiring story of the Gay Pride Flag In this deeply moving and empowering true story, young readers will trace the life of the Gay Pride Flag, from its beginnings in 1978 with social activist Ha…
A first-generation Chinese-American woman recounts growing up in America within a tradition-bound Chinese family, and confronted with Chinese ghosts from the past and non-Chinese ghosts of the present
The cult-y pocket-size field guide to the strange and intriguing secrets of the Mojave--its myths and legends, outcasts and oddballs, flora, fauna, and UFOs--becomes the definitive, oracular book of the desert For the past five years, Desert Oracle…
Learn about one of the most influential leaders in the fight for gay rights. Although he started out as a teacher without aspirations to be an activist or politician, Harvey Milk found himself captivated by the history-making movements of the 1960s.…
On February 12, 1965, in the Audubon Ballroom, Yuri Kochiyama cradled Malcolm X in her arms as he died, but her role as a public servant and activist began much earlier than this pivotal public moment. Heartbeat of Struggle is the first biography of…
As America stands to the rest of the world, so stands California to America a shining promise of endless possibility. California is both dream and reality. Coastal California is for anyone who has felt the lure of a Pacific sunset. From the physical…
An autobiography of growing up as an Iranian-American describes the author's family's 1971 move from Iran to Southern California, the members of her diverse family, and their struggle with culture shock.
This is the story of Palm Springs in its golden years, a city that had it all, including marvelous midcentury Modern architecture, fabulous fly-in hotels, and a swinging nightlife. Through vintage photographs, postcards, and other ephemera, Palm Spr…
First published in 1999, this celebrated history of San Francisco traces the exploitation of both local and distant regions by prominent families - the Hearsts, de Youngs, Spreckelses, and others - who gained power through mining, ranching, water an…
This dazzling story of Hollywood during the decade of its greatest success is a social and cultural history of the movie capital's golden age. Its cast includes actors, writers, musicians and composers, producers and directors, racketeers and labor…
The Mexican American woman zoot suiter, or pachuca, often wore a V-neck sweater or a long, broad-shouldered coat, a knee-length pleated skirt, fishnet stockings or bobby socks, platform heels or saddle shoes, dark lipstick, and a bouffant. Or she do…
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "There's such warmth to Dumas' writing that it invites the reader to pull up a seat at her table and smile right along with her at the quirks of her family and Iranians and Americans in general."--Booklist In the New Yor…
Destined to stand with other classic true stories of man against nature--Into Thin Air and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer; Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm--Crazy for the Storm is a literary triumph.Norman Olstead's New York Times bestselling mem…
"Breathtaking....Crazy for the Storm will keep you up late into the night." --Washington Post Book World Norman Olstead's New York Times bestselling memoir Crazy for the Storm is the story of the harrowing plane crash the author miraculously survive…
A first-generation US citizen of Venezuelan descent, Peter Camejo traversed the liberal American political landscape, from the Socialist Workers to the Green Party, running for Governor of California on numerous occasions as well as being selected a…
Covering one of the most unforgettable moments in modern history--and including striking images of twentieth-century icons such as Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsburg, Grace Slick, and more--The Haight is an indispen…
The Donner Party expedition is one of the most notorious stories in all of American history. It's also a fascinating snapshot of the westward expansion of the United States, and the families and individuals who sacrificed so much to build new lives…
A pictorial tour of the city by the Golden Gate, presenting drawings of its hills, cable cars, harbor, bridges, market areas, and flower stalls.
In 1919, against a backdrop of a long history of anti-Asian nativism, a handful of Japanese families established Cortez Colony in a bleak pocket of the San Joachin Valley. Valerie Matsumoto chronicles conflicts within the community as well as obstac…
Sacramento wasn t always so proud of the area now called Land Park. In fact, due to a notorious roadhouse at Sutterville and Riverside roads, the city took great pains to distance itself from here in the early days, calling the roadhouse and environ…
Sonoma is one of Northern California's most desirable places to live and a popular tourist destination, combining small-town charm, a colourful past, and its current role as the hub of one of the world's premier wine-producing regions. A Short Histo…
California during the gold rush was a place of disputed claims, shoot-outs, gambling halls, and prostitution; a place populated by that rough and rebellious figure, the forty-niner; in short, a place that seems utterly unconnected to middle-class cu…
Death Valley, its harsh and rugged landscape established a national monument in 1933 and named a national park in 1994, has long held a fascination for visitors, even before it became tourist friendly. Shortly after the first visit of nonnative inha…
El Dorado, the South American Lost City of Gold, became a siren call for Spanish conquistadores eager to obtain fame and fortune by discovering the undiscoverable. Lives and fortunes were lost, reputations were made and lost, but El Dorado always se…
Alliance Rises in the West documents the experiences of a company town at a critical moment in the rise of working-class consciousness in nineteenth-century California. Through archaeological research Charlotte K. Sunseri overcomes the silence of th…
There s more to Los Angeles than lights, camera, action! From the city's early, devilish days populated by missionaries, robber barons, oil wells and orange groves, Chronicles of Old Los Angeles explains how the Wild West became the Left Coast. Lear…
In the first book-length scholarly study of the San Fernando Valley-home to one-third of the population of Los Angeles-Laura R. Barraclough combines ambitious historical sweep with an on-the-ground investigation of contemporary life in this iconic w…
Updated and Expanded Second Edition Features Six New Walking Adventures!10,000 Steps a Day in L.A. is for urban adventurers with a passion for healthy living who are also eager to explore Los Angeles-from its most legendary locations to its more hid…
Ho for California The terminus of the first overland immigrant pack train destined for California was John Marsh's adobe, Brentwood. Since 1841, East Contra Costa County has been a grain and fruit basket to the world, a recreational playground for r…
Mid-century Livermore saw a demographic shift from farms and ranches to suburbanization and continuing support of the existing health care industry, New Deal programs, a naval airbase, and two national laboratories. The health care industry flourish…
Before the Gold Rush of 1848-1858, Alta (Upper) California was an isolated cattle frontier-and home to a colorful group of Spanish speaking, non-indigenous people known as Californios. Profiting from the forced labor of large numbers of local Indian…
While living in the Presidio National Park, Leslie Carol Roberts became enchanted with the park's 125-year old forest, native plant and habitat restoration, serpentine rock formations, and wild beaches just outside the Golden Gate. Roberts unearths…
The territory of Napa County, California, contains more than grapevines. The deepest roots belong to Wappo-speaking peoples, a group whose history has since been buried by the stories of Spanish colonizers, Californios (today's Latinos), African Ame…
The Tenderloin District of San Francisco Through Time is a brief history of a neighborhood known to early San Franciscans as St. Ann's Valley. The story of this once-placid piece of real estate provides us with a fascinating microcosm of urban histo…
Predominantly built as a "bedroom" community for the San Francisco Bay Area, Pacifica's rich and diverse heritage stretches back to the Spanish explorers of the 17th century. Captured here in over 200 vintage images is a tribute to this coastal comm…
"...a marvelous book and a great contribution to Chinatown, the Chinese-American community, and to the world community. I am amazed at your photography, your appreciation of color, your mastery of framing, your adventurousness in perspectives...it a…
The California Gold Rush began in 1848 and incited many "wagons west." However, only half of the 300,000 gold seekers traveled by land. The other half traveled by sea. And it's the story of this second group that interests Malcolm Rohrbough in his a…
LA MEJOR HISTORIA DE INMIGRACI N DE NUESTROS TIEMPOS Su historia es nica, divertida, y en estas p ginas la cuenta de manera brillante. Naci durante un a o de hambruna en un peque o pueblo de Austria, hijo de un jefe de polic a muy austero. So aba co…
CA-Mno-2122 is an extensive, multi-component site complex in the Mono Lake basin of east-central California containing 31 native encampments and 4 wing traps dating between A.D. 500 and 1900. This archeological study of the site provides important i…
Take a historical journey to Pasadena, California, through rare views of vintage postcards spanning the early 1900s through the 1960s. See how this city in the suburbs of Los Angeles offered Californians entertainment, beautiful sights, and a place…
After gold was discovered in California in 1848, thousands of people rushed there to strike it rich. They faced tough choices at every turn. Now the choices are yours. Would you rather use the slower method of panning for gold or use a more dangerou…
Try your luck, and search for your fortune in California Follow the joy and heartbreak of the '49ers during the California Gold Rush.
From the Introduction by Lowell J. Bean:An apparent dichotomy exists in scientific circles concerning the role of religion and belief systems and a similar dichotomy exists among anthropological theorists. Two assumptions seem to prevail: ritual and…
West of the city of Tehachapi is situated a trio of alpine valleys cutting through a landscape where the gods tightened the drawstrings between Central and Southern California. At this meeting place of the Mojave Desert, the Sierra Nevada, San Joaqu…
Mountain of Paradise challenges conventional taxonomies of world civilizations by introducing a new and formidable candidate: the civilization of Greater California presently incubating as the evolution of California into a veritable "nation-state"…
The true story of a remarkable young woman's struggle to find a home in the world Caille Millner is a rising star on the literary scene. A graduate of Harvard University, she was first published at age sixteen and was recently named one of Columbia…
