The Golden Empire: A True Tale of Oilmen, Farmers, and the Remaking of an American Boomtown

From a dazzling young journalist whose first book was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence comes the unforgettable story of a community of oil men and farm workers struggling with an epic drought, a rapid green energy transition, and the great questions of the 21st century.

Depending on who you ask, Kern County, California, is either a goldmine or a wasteland. In the hills that surround the city of Bakersfield, tens of thousands of oil pumps crowd together in herds, nodding up a...