Book Store
The selected books in our store can be ordered directly from Amazon.com by clicking on the “Buy It!” link or the cover image for the title.
J. S. Holliday
“The World Rushed In” is a pioneering achievement in historical writing, at once a personal, intimate story of one man’s search for wealth and the definitive account of the California gold rush. Building upon the copious journals of gold seeker William Swain and enlarging upon his experiences through the imaginative interweaving of his diaries with the letters of hundreds of other ’49ers, J. S. Holliday gives the reader a compelling opportunity to be part of one of America’s most exciting and important adventures. Holliday captures the triumphs and tragedies of Swain and his compatriots in vivid, human terms, from the dangerous journey across the plains and mountains to the rugged mining camps of northern California. This is history at its very best.
Michael Kowalewski (Editor)
Review by Malcolm J. Rohrbough, California History Magazine, Fall 1998
Michael Kowalewski has brought together writings by a wide array of authors over a hundred and fifty years centered around the Gold Rush and its lasting influence. To more than a hundred selections he has added sixty-three illustrations and an effective introduction. Kowalewski has chosen to have brief selections from many authors. This strategy works well. The editor has grouped his materials into four chronological parts. The first, “Before the Rush,” gives us some sense of Alta California in the twenty years before the discovery of gold, and it closes with the accounts of James W. Marshall and John Sutter. The second, “Getting There,” is about the voyages of Forty-Niners overland and by sea, with some contemporary accounts and others written many years later. The third section, “Gold Rush Life,” has the largest number of contributors and includes the standard gold-rush observers, representatives of many nations who came to California in search of gold, and important literary figures (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Charles Dickens). The fourth and final section, “Legacies,” gives this collection a national character.
Louise Clappe, Marlene Smith-Baranzini (Editor)
Definitive edition of a Gold Rush classic, Dame Shirley’s classic (and often humorous!) letters portray the California gold rush in all its excitement and ethnic diversity. At last an edition has appeared that sets her writings in context! Editor Marlene Smith-Baranzini has done students, researchers, and history buffs a huge favor by putting together THE definitive Dame Shirley collection, complete with excellent introduction, interpretive footnotes, maps, photographs, and even a glossary. Recommended for anyone interested in California history or just in search of a good read.
Israel Shipman Pelton Lord, Necia Dixon Liles (Editor)
From the back cover
“Many overland diaries are little more than trail descriptions and weather reports. Not this one. … Narratives of the character of miners, and the California and Panama businessmen who gouged them, are well worth reading. … [Lord’s] tirades about slavery are sharp, including slaves in California. … Highly recommended.” –Overland Journal. “Many immigrants wrote journals that were either unreflective or far too limited in detail. Lord's journal offers a pleasant exception.” –Choice.
Mark Twain
Review by Amazon.com
There is no nicer surprise for a reader than to discover that an acknowledged classic really does deliver the goods. Mark Twain’s “Roughing It” is just such a book. The adventure tale is a delight from start to finish and is just as engrossing today as it was 125 years ago when it first appeared.
“Roughing It” tells the true-ish escapades of Twain in the American West. Although he clearly “speaks with forked tongue,” “Roughing It” is informative as well as humorous. From stagecoach travel to the etiquette of prospecting, the modern reader gains considerable insight into that much-fictionalized time and place. … Structured around the narrator's attempts to strike it rich. He meets a motley, colorful crew in the process; many mishaps occur, and it shouldn't surprise you that Twain does not emerge a man of means. But he withstands it all in such a relentless good humor that his misfortune inspires laughter. “Roughing It” is wonderful entertainment and reminds you how funny the world can be—even its grimmer districts—when you're traveling with the right writer.
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