num_pages: 496
description: Miriam Pawels fascinating book . . . illuminates the sea change in the nations politics in the last half of the 20th century.--New York Times Book ReviewA Los Angeles Times Bestseller Publishers Weekly Top Ten History Books for FallA Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist's panoramic history of California and its impact on the nation from the Gold Rush to Silicon Valley--told through the lens of the family dynasty that led the state for nearly a quarter century.Even in the land of reinvention the story is exceptional: Pat Brown the beloved father who presided over California during an era of unmatched expansion; Jerry Brown the cerebral son who became the youngest governor in modern times--and then returned three decades later as the oldest.In The Browns of California journalist and scholar Miriam Pawel weaves a narrative history that spans four generations from August Schuckman the Prussian immigrant who crossed the Plains in 1852 and settled on a northern California ranch to his great-grandson Jerry Brown who reclaimed the family homestead one hundred forty years later. Through the prism of their lives we gain an essential understanding of California and an appreciation of its importance.The magisterial story is enhanced by dozens of striking photos many published for the first time. This book gives new insights to those steeped in California history offers a corrective for those who confuse stereotypes and legend for fact and opens new vistas for readers familiar with only the sketchiest outlines of a place habitually viewed from afar with a mix of envy and awe disdain and fascination.
language: None
title: The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation
publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing