California: On The Edge of American History

by Ronald Genini

Overview

This book highlights California's rich and complex history from its earliest days to the present. It begins by exploring the land and Indigenous peoples before European contact, then moves through the colonial period, the transformative impact of the Gold Rush, and the state's growth into an agricultural and industrial powerhouse. The narrative also covers the economic fluctuations and social changes of the 20th century, including the effects of World War II, and concludes with an analysis of modern California as a dynamic and diverse state.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798341811270
Publisher:	Barnes & Noble Press
Publication date:	10/25/2024
Series:	California - Second Edition , #3
Pages:	322
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Ronald Genini is a third-generation Californian who holds a BA and an MA in history from the University of San Francisco. Genini was born in Oakland in 1946, and his extended family has lived in California since 1905. Genini taught high school history for 35 years and was named Fresno County’s Outstanding Young Educator in 1978, the first of several professional and civic awards. After retirement in 2004, he taught history courses on California and the American West at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at California State University, Fresno.

From 1972 to 2014, over a dozen of his history articles appeared in The Journal of the West, Revue Hellénique du Droit International, the California Historical Quarterly, Fresno Past & Present, Pacific Historian, International Review of Natural Family Planning, American Heritage, The Californians, and The Fresno Bee. Genini has worked as a book reviewer for the California Historical Society, as well as for the former publication The Californians. He has written a biography (Theda Bara: a Biography of the Silent Screen Vamp, with a Filmography) and cowritten two others (Romualdo Pacheco: a Californio in Two Eras with Richard Hitchman of Cuesta College, and Darn Right It’s Butch, Memories of Our Gang with Tom Bond). In 2017, he published the first edition of California: On the Edge of American History. Between 2006 and 2013, Genini helped edit two of author Conrad Black’s history books, The Invincible Quest: The Life of Richard Milhous Nixon and Flight of the Eagle: The Grand Strategies That Brought America from Colonial Dependence to World Leadership.

Genini lives in Fresno with his wife, Roberta. Together, they have three married sons, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.