From native stewardship to Mexican province to Disneyland, discover the evolution and constant reinvention of the nation’s most populous state—and global superpower in its own right.
California, one of the biggest and most consequential states in the union, looms even larger in the imagination—for good reason.
California’s story is one of constant reinvention. It’s been shaped by each of the peoples who’ve called it home, from its first Indigenous inhabitants to Spanish empresarios to tech moguls and silver-screen stars. Through all these influences, what was once a far western outpost has become a global symbol of creativity and ambition, a liberal bastion, an economic powerhouse, and one of the most influential places on Earth.
In The Shortest History of California, historian Damon Akins traces the Golden State’s journey from its earliest civilizations through waves of migration, conquest, and transformation. Along the way, he illuminates the forces that made California what it is today: boom-and-bust cycles of prosperity, intense struggles over land and identity, and relentless innovation.
In a concise, vivid account, The Shortest History of California reveals how the story of California is, in many ways, the story of America itself.
The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.
“Praise for We Are the Land
“A Native American rejoinder to Richard White and Jesse Amble White’s California Exposures. . . . [And] a welcome contribution to Native studies and the rich literature of California’s first peoples.”—Kirkus Reviews
“In what seems an overdue departure from standard histories, Akins and Bauer’s comprehensive account places indigenous people at the heart of California’s story.”—Boston Globe
“We Are the Land is an astonishing work of scholarship, storytelling, and solidarity. . . . It will set the standard for the many other stories of the People waiting to be told.”—Sierra Magazine
“The stories Atkins and Bauer gather in this survey are about the Natives themselves, offering a compassionate reading of a people who have, even in some of the best revisionist studies, remained the ‘other’ on the periphery. The details and voices of California Indians’ lives that the authors amplify from oral histories, primary documents, and secondary sources draw out the drama and recast the history of the 31st state from the perspectives of its First Peoples.”—The Nation
“Combines lyrical storytelling with academic narration to foreground Indigenous oral stories. . . . The book’s well-researched micro-histories coalesce to create a necessary rewriting of Californian history.”—Civil Eats
