The biographies in The Human Tradition in California portray a select group of Californians in the rich detail and complexity tha thuman lives warrant, and that is what makes good history. Southern California Quarterly An engaging, thoughtful book. Students and interested readers alike will enjoy the range of stories and the up-to-date scholarship of this well done and compelling collection of essays. Western Historical Quarterly This compact volume of accessible and up-to-date narratives succeeds wonderfully in the very challenging task fo representing the vast diversity of California history. by takin ga biographicl approach, this skillfully edited compilation of pithy and lively essays manages to convey the big themes and collective patterns without sacrificing the unique experiences of Native Americans, African Americans, Asians, Anglos, Latinos, women, workers, and entrepreneurs. This is a first-rate survey of, and introduction to, California history. -- Philip J. Ethington, University of Southern California A wonderful collection of biographical essays. The majority of the chapters beutifully illuminate the lives of previously less well-known persons, while the others shed new light on familiar figures. Taken together, the essays capture the exceptional diversity of California's human tradition. This book should be welcomed by all students of California history and assigned in all courses on the subject. -- Stephen Aron, University of California, Los Angeles; director, Center for the Study of the American West at the Autry Museum Clark Davis and David Igler have assembled fifteen exceptionally fine brief essays that illustrate the successes and maladies of California life from the earliest days to the rise of Silicon Valley as a center of the nation's high-tech industries. The authors of the pieces, by focusing on the life stories of individuals, some well-known and others obscure, have not only given history a human face but also explained major and often controversial episodes in California's past. Many of the essays are revisionist in nature and hold surprises. The Human Tradition in California is not only a good read but would also be an excellent supplement to a standard text as well as a text for a short course in California history. -- Martin Ridge, Huntington Library
