California Rich

by Stephen Birmingham

An anecdotal social history of the West Coast's moneyed elite chronicles the rise of California's ruling class since the mid-nineteenth century in a series of striking portraits of the Stanfords, Huntingtons, Hearsts, Irvines, and others

Genres: History

318 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ride

I’ve lived in CA for 22 years and only knew a small piece of its history. This book has enlightened me to so many things I did not know. Granted it was published in 1980, so any of the fabulous fortunes that have been made since are not included, what is here is the foundation of CA storied history. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in CA history

[Bob Costello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book on the folks who made California history and made a lot of money doing it - very informative. The key factors in the wealth and history of California are: gold, railroads, oil and water. Stephen Birmingham is a very good writer. My favorite book by him is "Our Crowd", which is about German Jewish immigrants who came to America.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable book about the early days of California and the lives of many of its richest inhabitants. The book focuses on the major cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, a bit of San Diego. The wealthy families it profiles are of particular interest: the Spreckels, the de Youngs, the Dohenys, the Irvines...the list goes on. The are plenty of intriguing tidbits to keep the reader interested.

[Brian Niemiec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting to know a little more about my new home. It's interesting to read about these you see on streets and learn about what they did to get their name there. Mulholland was responsible for the death of over 400 people because of a faulty dam he built that burst. Our hero! Let's name a prominent street after him.

[Finn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry and overly enraptured with furniture and frilleries, Birmingham triumphs when he explores the familial successes and struggles of the newly rich. Unfortunately, this is too often thrown by the wayside.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved how this book was split into topics such as “women”, “water”, “the arts” as opposed to a straight through time history. Super interesting information and well-written and researched.