Competing Voices: A Critical History of Stockton, California: Revised and Enlarged Second Edition

In the first edition of this book, I began by saying that my purpose was not to write a typical municipal history. That still stands. Too often such studies are little more than exercises in boosterism. Instead, I wanted this account to be critical. Most people think the word means something negative or censorious, but it doesn't have to. In my estimation, the preferred synonymous for being critical are evaluating, explaining, interpreting, and expounding.

This necessarily entails revealing...