At the time of Herman Melville’s death, in 1891, his novels had fallen into obscurity. Moby-Dick, his masterwork published in 1851, was out of print and unread. But in the 1920s, critical reassessments led to a “Melville...
Read MoreDeep Oakland: How Geology Shaped a City, presents a seldom-attempted blend of human and geologic history, explaining the stories told by the physical landscape and detailing how the city has interacted with it. Wealth generated...
Read MoreAn essential piece in California Studies, Redemptive Dreams: Engaging Kevin Starr’s California offers the first critical engagement with the vision of California’s most ambitious interpreter. While Starr’s multifaceted and...
Read MoreJoin author Jared Stearns in conversation with cinephile Jesse Hawthorne Ficks on Stearns’ new book, Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers. Marilyn Chambers was the embodiment of the free-spirited Seventies, the...
Read MoreIn popular mythology, the Overland Trail is typically a triumphant tale, with plucky easterners crossing the Plains in caravans of covered wagons. But not everyone reached Oregon and California. Some 6,600 migrants perished...
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