| Five Fires: Race, Catastrophe, and the Shaping of California Contributor(s): Wyatt, David (Author) |
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ISBN: 0195127412 ISBN-13: 9780195127416 Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA OUR PRICE: $41.79 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 1999 Annotation: Using his background in cultural history and literature, David Wyatt focuses this history of California on five events that swept through the state, altering its physical and political landscape. "Five Fires" provides a unique framework for understanding the recent developments in California and will prove an important contribution to the history of American culture. Photos. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - State & Local - General - History | Social History - Social Science | Minority Studies |
| Dewey: 979.4 |
| LCCN: 98029850 |
| Lexile Measure: 1220 |
| Physical Information: 0.74" H x 6.08" W x 8.98" (1.01 lbs) 304 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Western U.S. - Geographic Orientation - California |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In this wholly original study, David Wyatt uses the metaphor of fire to tell the story of California. Wyatt focuses this catastrophic history of his native state on five events of social combustion and tangible fire that swept through California, altering its physical and political landscape and the way both were represented in art and literature. Wyatt begins with the accidental importation and spread of the wild oat in the 1770s, a process that had its human parallel in the Spanish invaders. He then explores the impact of four other significant events: the Gold Rush, the 1906 earthquake and fire, the post-World War II defense-industry boom, and the fire of race that erupted in Watts in 1965. This fifth fire, which flared throughout the Chinese and Mexican immigration experiences and the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II, has been at the core of California's history, Wyatt argues. From the journals of a Gold Camp mineress to Amy Tan's novels, from Ansel Adams's photography to Roman Polanski's films, Wyatt brings into dialogue a wide range of powerful, moving voices. |