Golden Dreams

A narrative tour de force that combines wide-ranging scholarship with captivating prose, Kevin Starr's acclaimed multi-volume Americans and the California Dream is an unparalleled work of cultural history. In this volume, Starr covers the crucial postwar period--1950 to 1963--when the California we know today first burst into prominence. Starr brilliantly illuminates the dominant economic, social, and cultural forces in California in these pivotal years. In a powerful blend of telling events, colorful personalities, and insightful analyses, Starr examines such issues as the overnight creation of the postwar California suburb, the rise of Los Angeles as Super City, the reluctant emergence of San Diego as one of the largest cities in the nation, and the decline of political centrism. He explores the Silent Generation and the emergent Boomer youth cult, the Beats and the Hollywood "Rat Pack," the pervasive influence of Zen Buddhism and other Asian traditions in art and design, the rise of the University of California and the emergence of California itself as a utopia of higher education, the cooling of West Coast jazz, freeway and water projects of heroic magnitude, outdoor life and the beginnings of the environmental movement. More broadly, he shows how California not only became the most populous state in the Union, but in fact evolved into a mega-state en route to becoming the global commonwealth it is today. Golden Dreams continues an epic series that has been widely recognized for its signal contribution to the history of American culture in California. It is a book that transcends its stated subject to offer a wealth of insight into the growth of the Sun Belt and the West and indeed the dramatic transformation of America itself in these pivotal years following the Second World War.

An account of the California Gold Rush, discussing the people and events involved and the effect of that gold discovery upon the future of California and the nation.

Little girls ages 3 to 6 who enjoy Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer and princesses will love this jumbo coloring and activity book. Mermaids, missing crowns, fairy princesses, and flying horses are just a few of the wonders that Dora and her friends find during their magical adventures.

A beautiful Kirkassi girl, cold-eyed villains and smiling killers, a bazaar merchant peddling slightly used dreams—could any young adventurer ask for more? Not Carlo Chuchio, who is seeking hidden treasure on the legendary Road of Golden Dreams. With Baksheesh, the world's worst camel-puller, Carlo leads a caravan through the realm of Keshavar. Robbed of all but his underdrawers, mistaken for a mighty warrior and then for a crown prince, Carlo risks his life for a prize that may not even exist. Newbery medalist Lloyd Alexander weaves a glorious tale of adventure, love, and the treasures that matter most. The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

When gold was found in Northern California, news of it spread like a wildfire during the spring and summer of 1848. At first, most people thought the reports were too good to be true, but as weeks and months flew by, they heard about more people striking it rich – and imaginations started to run wild. Tens of thousands of people started to dream about gold, and some of them left everything they knew to make the journey to California. It didn’t matter if you were black, white or brown – anyone could go. Even people in Central and South America, Australia, China, and Western Europe heard about the gold and made the journey. By 1855, hundreds of thousands of people had converged on California. In this study, the author shares diary entries from gold seekers, painting a detailed portrait of the frenzy that overtook the world, the lives of the miners, and how the move West changed the fabric of a nation. Without the dreams, hard work, and dedication of the miners who moved West, the United States of America would not be what it is today.

Dreams of Gold Dreams of Power These drove men and women to seek their fortune in Sarawak. They came from Britain to carve a future on virgin soil from China - to escape grinding poverty. They fought and traded, lived and died in the struggle to fulfil their dreams. Some lost their lives to bloodthirsty headhunters, or in the disease-ridden swamps and trackless jungles of the interior; some survived to make their fortune. Chinese, British, Malays rubbed shoulders with fearsome Sea Dayaks, and nomads in the hunter-gatherer stage of evolution. The Steam Age met the Stone Age in this exotic, untouched land. Cultures clashed in a multiracial society. Charles Brooke, enigmatic White Rajah of Sarawak, was a man of vision, a man with a mission to tame the natives first, then to protect them from exploitation. His dream was to take them gently towards modern civilisation, to bring them the rewards of self-development. He was paternalistic but loving, a truly benevolent despot. Dreams of Adventure Dreams of Romance Stephen Young, a young graduate, arrives in Sarawak in 1898. Seduced by its virgin beauty steaming jungle, majestic mountains and noble savages he stays. Erotic intrigue, passion, violence and warfare surround him. His goal is to survive these with his head and his heart intact.