The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation - Tapa dura

Críticas

[A] wonderful and essential book. (The Los Angeles Times)

A vivid history of a political dynasty that has governed the Golden State for nearly a quarter century . . . The Pulitzer Prize-winning Ms. Pawel elucidates with sparkling prose and telling details . . . Ms. Pawel, with her extensive interviews, deep archival research and brilliant synthesis, has made an enormous contribution to the historical record. (Wall Street Journal)

Pawel's narrative is unflaggingly direct, but it also functions as deep art, for the book is actually a history of California posing as a family portrait. Whether it's the Gold Rush, Japanese internment, Free Speech Movement, Watts riots, Proposition 13 or climate change, the Brown story reflects large portions of California's past and much of its present.. A skillful portrait. (San Francisco Chronicle, "Best Books of the Year")

Miriam Pawel's fascinating book charts four generations of the Brown family . . . Pawel bills her family saga as a 'lens through which to tell a unique history of the 31st state' but it does much more. Her engaging narrative of the politics, ideas and policies of the two Edmund Browns illuminates the sea change in the nation's politics in the last half of the 20th century." (New York Times Book Review)

Well-written and deeply researched . . . [A] rich history of California, illuminated with small historical details that are a testament to Pawel's research. In her capable hands, readers will find the Browns and California captivating subjects. (Starred Review, Publishers Weekly)

Pawel expertly mines family archives, oral histories, and interviews with contemporary sources to full and for the first time chronicle the origins and accomplishments of this remarkable clan.This fine and engaging political saga tracks both the Brown family and the growth of the state they have served. (Starred Review, Booklist)

A vivid portrait of California's land and people emerges from a sympathetic family biography . . . A well-informed history of a powerful dynasty. (Kirkus)

Pawel's illuminating history focuses on the father and son who served nearly a quarter century as California governors. (Books to Read This Month, BBC)

Pawel's narrative is unflaggingly direct, but it also functions as deep art, for the book is actually a history of California posing as a family portrait. . . . By reminding us that a single family has produced so much of the state's leadership, Pawel's skillful portrait also raises an imminent question: What's next? (National Book Review)

In vibrant detail, Pawel introduces us to the parts of California that mattered most to the Browns, revealing how the state forged its leading political dynasty. To bring this four-generation story together, Pawel consulted archives across the state and conducted extensive interviews with Governor Brown, his family members, and longtime associates. As a result, the Brown family story is enlivened with densely textured settings and carefully selected vignettes . . . This is not a comprehensive California history disguised as political biography. This is something new: a California panorama and an intimate family portrait captured in a single frame. (Los Angeles Review of Books)

Reseña del editor

"Miriam Pawel's fascinating book . . . illuminates the sea change in the nation's politics in the last half of the 20th century."--New York Times Book Review

California Book Award Gold Medal Winner * Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize * A Los Angeles Times Bestseller * San Francisco Chronicle's "Best Books of the Year" List * Publishers Weekly Top Ten History Books for Fall * Berkeleyside Best Books of the Year * Shortlisted for NCIBA Golden Poppy Award

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist's panoramic history of California and its impact on the nation, from the Gold Rush to Silicon Valley--told through the lens of the family dynasty that led the state for nearly a quarter century.

Even in the land of reinvention, the story is exceptional: Pat Brown, the beloved father who presided over California during an era of unmatched expansion; Jerry Brown, the cerebral son who became the youngest governor in modern times--and then returned three decades later as the oldest.

In The Browns of California, journalist and scholar Miriam Pawel weaves a narrative history that spans four generations, from August Schuckman, the Prussian immigrant who crossed the Plains in 1852 and settled on a northern California ranch, to his great-grandson Jerry Brown, who reclaimed the family homestead one hundred forty years later. Through the prism of their lives, we gain an essential understanding of California and an appreciation of its importance.

The magisterial story is enhanced by dozens of striking photos, many published for the first time. This book gives new insights to those steeped in California history, offers a corrective for those who confuse stereotypes and legend for fact, and opens new vistas for readers familiar with only the sketchiest outlines of a place habitually viewed from afar with a mix of envy and awe, disdain, and fascination.