What to read about the history of California

IT IS DIFFICULT to wrap your mind around California. The Golden State is larger and more populous than many countries, with an economy to match. It is home to towering mountains, unforgiving desert and seemingly endless coastline. No American state has had a greater impact on modern culture and technology—thanks to Hollywood and Silicon Valley. And, like America, California is not just a place but an idea: a golden land of opportunity at the edge of the continent where generations of miners, migrants, farmers, actors and computer geeks have sought success. It is perhaps because of this idealistic vision that California’s troubles, and those of its superstar cities, Los Angeles and San Francisco, can seem especially acute. It is also America’s most liberal state, earning it the admiration of progressives and the ire of conservatives, for whom California has become shorthand for everything wrong in America. No one book can really unpack what California means. But these five, taken together, make for a good start.

For a broad overview of California’s story start with Kevin Starr’s one-volume history of the state. The historian and former state librarian somehow manages to cover everything from the Spaniards’ exploratory voyages up the Pacific coast in the 16th century to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial victory in 2003. Naturally, the book won’t answer every question readers may have about the state, but it is an extremely useful jumping-off point, and an introduction to California’s many eras: Indigenous, Spanish, Mexican and, finally, American.