Golden State - by Michael Hiltzik (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"Superb. Hiltzik makes a compelling case that California is the heartbeat of our nation."--Douglas Brinkley, New York Times bestselling author of Silent Spring Revolution

From Pulitzer Prize winner 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 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. Gold-hungry settlers venture into the Sierra foothills only to leave with little, while a handful of their suppliers turn themselves into millionaire railroad magnates. Wars erupt in the name of water as Los Angeles booms, and early efforts to tame the vast landscape create a haven for fossil fuel extraction and environmental conservation alike. Hollywood politicians stoke fear, contributing to 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.

Review Quotes

"No other state than California has a history so large, so colorful, so full of hope, misery, and the unexpected. It is almost America in microcosm, and Michael Hiltzik tells its tale beautifully." - Adam Hochschild, New York Times bestselling author of American Midnight

"Michael Hiltzik's Golden State: The Making of California turns the lens on the powerful global and national figures and personalities--familiar and hitherto unknown--that built the Golden State. Hiltzik moves crisply across borders, territories, and states to reveal California as a space where demanding visions were contested but often realized, through conflicting visions of power, water, land, people, and profit. Forceful personalities--from Junipero Serra to Walt Disney to Richard Nixon to Cesar Chavez--crossed cultural and political borders to build a state of their own, a place that sat upon a volcano of utopian social dreams and apocalyptic political tremors." - Jean Pfaelzer, author of California: A Slave State

"Michael Hiltzik's Golden State is a monumental history of California brimming with fierce national implications for today. With astonishing detail and elegant prose, Hiltzik masterfully delineates Spain's brutal conquest of Indigenous peoples in the early sixteenth century; the 1848 Gold Rush; the railroad revolution; the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and so much more. His accounts of Hollywood, Big Agriculture, and Silicon Valley innovation are superb. Hiltzik makes a compelling case that California is the heartbeat of our nation." - Douglas Brinkley, New York Times bestselling author of Silent Spring Revolution

"This engaging Pulitzer Prize-winner is perfectly placed to argue that there is something exceptional about this state. . . What Hiltzik does so well here though is get behind the mystical allure of the 'golden state.'" - The Guardian

"California's big, storied past gets a nuanced, superbly researched retelling in one volume... Hiltzik also excels at creating subtle, almost invisible master narratives." - Los Angeles Times