A witty, expansive narrative that reveals the real story of the people
and places that makes up the Golden State. From the European conquest to
today's economic crisis, Californians have experienced tumultuous growth
and painful conflicts. Like the grinding of tectonic plates that has
produced the state's very landscape, these encounters, disputes, and
transformations have continuously made and remade California.
California: On-the-Road History doesn't relate the cleaned-up tale of
the California dream that school textbooks and the tourism commission
tell. Rather it presents the sometimes bitter, sometimes triumphant
history behind the California myth. Included are recommended museums,
state parks, and other attractions, alongside literary excerpts from
local authors who give readers a sense of California in different eras.