worth reading, but inadequate in parts | California: A History (Modern Library Chronicles)

Well-written, concise, entertaining | California: A History (Modern Library Chronicles) | Kevin Starr

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	• California: A History (Modern Library Chronicles) Kevin Starr Modern Library, 2007 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 35 reviews view larger image
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Read the Book, But Don't Stop Here

I took Professor Starr's history of California class while an undergrad at USC, so I had been interested in reading this one volume history of the state for years. I had read Starr's Coast of Dreams (http://www.amazon.com/Coast-Dreams-Kevin-Starr/dp/0679740724/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252364634&sr=8-1) previously, but did not feel I had the time to read the other parts of the multi-volume history, so I went with the single volume instead.

Many of the criticisms in some of the other reviews seem to reflect the fact that the reviewers chose to go with the single volume condensed history, instead of the more detailed multi-volume books. Having read Coast of Dreams, I can say that at least that entry does not have the shortcomings other reviews mention which are somewhat accurate. This book does not go into too much detail, some sections are fast tours through different aspects of California and its culture, and some paragraphs read almost like lists of famous Californians. But that is the point of the one volume book.

The book starts chronologically, but the 20th century is primarily told thematically. There are chapters on public works, art and culture, politics, and more. That can be a little confusing, for example a governor does something a few pages before he is elected. But overall, this is probably a good way to relay lots of information about 20th century California.

If you want more detail, read Starr's other books. If you want a quick tour through California, go with this one volume book.

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worth reading, but inadequate in parts

I am a native Californian, live in Silicon Valley, and love the Golden State. I have seen the storied parts of Europe - Provence, Tuscany, Sicily - and yes, Venice,, Rome and Paris. I also know the U.S. quite well - there is no comparison, the San Francisco Bay Area, Yosemite, La Jolla, Big Sur, Mt. Shasta, Monterey, Napa Wine country, East Oakland and East Los Angeles - this is the best, most innovative, most diverse, most fantastic place on Earth.
I respect the book Mr. Starr has written, but it doesnt fully capture what makes California such a unique place. let me illustrate by one example. In the 1990s and even now, California's Silicon Valley transformed the entire planet like no other time in human history - through the Internet and world wide Web. Yahoo, Google, Cisco, eBay, Apple, Facebook on top of the 'old' economy companies like Intel, Hewlett Packard, Oracle, Genentech etc etc. did more than any place or people ever to make the world flat (to quote Tom Friedman of the NYT). This is a place where the most innovative, driven people of Asia, America and Europe meet and work together to forge (mostly) a better world - it is the Constantinople, the Venice or the Renaissance Florence of the modern times.
Similarily, Hollywood in S. California (which began with Charlie Chaplin in the Niles Canyon area near S.Francisco) provided the most widespread means that humanity has to look at itself in the mirror, and yet Kevin Starr does not give it the deserved importance
He devotes less to these than he spends on railroad robber barons and other minute happenings of the 19th century - admittedly important, but did they change the entire world, in such a short time!?

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Well-written, concise, entertaining

Some of the reviewers here seem have an obvious political or regional axe to grind, and I would read their reviews accordingly. I found this to be an informative and highly entertaining overview of California history. I thought the author generally made good calls as to what was important and/or entertaining enough to include. Guess what? A three hundred page overview won't be exhaustive. But if you're interested in the subject, I suspect this book will whet your appetite for more.

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OK for a fast and dirty history of the Golden State

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. It covers many, many topics related to the history of California. As such, do not expect the author to delve too much on every single topic. I did find that some were more interesting than others and merited further treatment, instead of the paragraph or two dedicated to them.

One thing that I will say (and that prompted me to write this review) is that, when I read this book, I had several moments when I would cringe. Sometimes I would have to re-read the passage (and cringe again) to make sure that is what the author wrote. Why did I cringe? Although the author tries to keep it middle-of-the-road, his prejudices do come out in certain pages (he tilts a little to the right and has an interesting view of race and race relations).

Before you vote that my review was not helpful, I will tell you that that I am a minority and I tend to tilt to the left. While this may be the reason why some of his passages made me cringe, I would have given an author that tilts to the left the same rating. When you purchase a book with a title such as "California: A History," you expect an impartial account of history. If I purchased a book entitled "A people's history of..." then I would know what I was getting into.

Like I said in the beginning, overall I enjoyed reading the book. His list of sources is excellent. I'm thankful to the author that he pointed me towards a couple of more books.

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Good book

This was a good and interesting book. I had to get it for a history class and I will say I quite liked it. Easy to read and understand.

California has always been our Shangri-la?the promised land of countless pilgrims in search of the American Dream. Now the Golden State?s premier historian, Kevin Starr, distills the entire sweep of California?s history into one splendid volume. From the age of exploration to the age of Arnold, this is the story of a place at once quintessentially American and utterly unique.

Arguing that America?s most populous state has always been blessed with both spectacular natural beauty and astonishing human diversity, Starr unfolds a rapid-fire epic of discovery, innovation, catastrophe, and triumph.

For generations, California?s native peoples basked in the abundance of a climate and topography eminently suited to human habitation. By the time the Spanish arrived in the early sixteenth century, there were scores of autonomous tribes were thriving in the region. Though conquest was rapid, nearly two centuries passed before Spain exerted control over upper California through the chain of missions that stand to this day.

The discovery of gold in January 1848 changed everything. With population increasing exponentially as get-rich-quick dreamers converged from all over the world, California reinvented itself overnight. Starr deftly traces the successive waves of innovation and calamity that have broken over the state since then?the incredible wealth of the Big Four railroad tycoons and the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906; the emergence of Hollywood as the world?s entertainment capital and of Silicon Valley as the center of high-tech research and development; the heroic irrigation and transportation projects that have altered the face of the region; the role of labor, both organized and migrant, in key industries from agriculture to aerospace.

Kevin Starr has devoted his career to the history of his beloved state, but he has never lost his sense of wonder over California?s sheer abundance and peerless variety. This one-volume distillation of a lifetime?s work gathers together everything that is most important, most fascinating, and most revealing about our greatest state.

From the Hardcover edition.

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