A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program for monographs. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

Los Angeles rose to significance in the first half of the twentieth century by way of its complex relationship to three rivers: the Los Angeles, the Owens, and the Colorado. The remarkable urban and suburban trajectory of southern California since then cannot be fully understood without reference to the ways in which each of these three river systems came to be connected to the future of the metropolitan...

The aim of this collection of essays is to stress the cultural aspects of the Jewish experience of coming to, and living in, the Golden State. The contributors explore how the Jews who settled in California helped shape the states culture and were, in turn, molded by cultural influences that were uniquely Californian. While this volume looks at the Jewish experience in California in general, particular emphasis is placed on Southern California where the Casden Institute, originators of The Jewish Role in American Life series of annual reviews, is based. The collection presents choice...

Shaped by the West is a primary-source reader that re-writes the history of the United States through a western lens. America's expansion west was the driving force for issues of democracy, politics, race, freedom, and property. The sources included in this volume reflect the important role of the West in national narratives of American history, from 1850 to the late twentieth century. William Deverell and Anne F. Hyde provide a nuanced look at the past, balancing social and politics topics, and representing all kinds of westerners--black and white, native and immigrant, male and...

Shaped by the West is a primary-source reader that re-writes the history of the United States through a western lens. America's expansion west was the driving force for issues of democracy, politics, race, freedom, and property. The sources included in this volume reflect the important role of the West in national narratives of American history, from the pre-Columbian era to 1877. William Deverell and Anne F. Hyde provide a nuanced look at the past, balancing social and politics topics, and representing all kinds of westerners--black and white, native and immigrant, male and female,...