Review by DC Brown -- California: On the Edge of America...
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DC Brown
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Review by DC Brown -- California: On the Edge of America...
[Following is a volunteer review of "California: On the Edge of American History" by Ronald Genini.]
California: On the Edge of American History by Ronald Genini provides us an extensive history of how the western edge of the US was populated. This book extraordinarily ambitious tome started in the 1400s and continued up to the present day. This volume seems to mention every explorer, sailor, and gold-miner that ever graced the California area.
One can't help but be amazed by the detail presented. Names of heretofore unknown explorers are given. Names not only with their dates of birth and death but the area and nature and timing of their accomplishment. Of course, the more well known from school history books are right along with them. The tug-of-war between Spain, Mexico, and the United States at the southern end of the territory compares to a similar struggle in the northern area between Russia, American Indians, and the United States.
By reading through the entire volume, it seems that California is a history of struggles that have not yet ended. There were struggles between settlers and Indians, between countries claiming sovereignty, between the gold miners and the townsfolk, between those in the north with the water and those in the south that desperately wanted that water. Political struggles, corruption, bribery, scandals, yellow journalism are just a few problems outlined in great detail. In modern history, starting in the 1800s, the author added details that gave a little more life to the information. Also, the periods divided into subsections, such as “The arts,” were more comfortable to read.
It is a great reference work. This book is not meant to be read cover to cover, although that is what I did. If you needed to know details about this person or that event, on the electronic version, you can search and find pertinent information. Reading it page to page, I got a piece of this event and a bit of that person's history. Later in the book, these events or people would be referenced again. Only the search function saved the day by putting these pieces together. As a whole, this is a fascinating work. The amount of detail is staggering.
I give this book 4 out of 4 stars. It is incredibly well-researched. It progresses in time logically most of the time, though I did enjoy the different areas that related to one subject through a more significant period. This book would be enjoyed most by serious scholars, those with an intense interest in the history of California and those who would like to find out more about a particular character or time in the history of California. I found very few errors. I did enjoy the history of California, even though I did not like the dry presentation.
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California: On the Edge of American History
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
California: On the Edge of American History by Ronald Genini provides us an extensive history of how the western edge of the US was populated. This book extraordinarily ambitious tome started in the 1400s and continued up to the present day. This volume seems to mention every explorer, sailor, and gold-miner that ever graced the California area.
One can't help but be amazed by the detail presented. Names of heretofore unknown explorers are given. Names not only with their dates of birth and death but the area and nature and timing of their accomplishment. Of course, the more well known from school history books are right along with them. The tug-of-war between Spain, Mexico, and the United States at the southern end of the territory compares to a similar struggle in the northern area between Russia, American Indians, and the United States.
By reading through the entire volume, it seems that California is a history of struggles that have not yet ended. There were struggles between settlers and Indians, between countries claiming sovereignty, between the gold miners and the townsfolk, between those in the north with the water and those in the south that desperately wanted that water. Political struggles, corruption, bribery, scandals, yellow journalism are just a few problems outlined in great detail. In modern history, starting in the 1800s, the author added details that gave a little more life to the information. Also, the periods divided into subsections, such as “The arts,” were more comfortable to read.
It is a great reference work. This book is not meant to be read cover to cover, although that is what I did. If you needed to know details about this person or that event, on the electronic version, you can search and find pertinent information. Reading it page to page, I got a piece of this event and a bit of that person's history. Later in the book, these events or people would be referenced again. Only the search function saved the day by putting these pieces together. As a whole, this is a fascinating work. The amount of detail is staggering.
I give this book 4 out of 4 stars. It is incredibly well-researched. It progresses in time logically most of the time, though I did enjoy the different areas that related to one subject through a more significant period. This book would be enjoyed most by serious scholars, those with an intense interest in the history of California and those who would like to find out more about a particular character or time in the history of California. I found very few errors. I did enjoy the history of California, even though I did not like the dry presentation.
******
California: On the Edge of American History
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Byrds of Victory by James Robert Campbell
