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In Gold Rush–era California, gunfighters weren’t outlaws or desperadoes — they were were prominent journalists, legislators, governors, and judges. Choose Your Weapon brings to life a now-forgotten time, when California was a raw new state with politics as violent as any banana republic. This was the Golden Age of dueling, when prominent citizens would settle their political and personal disputes with gunfire, according to the venerable law of the code duello. Choose Your Weapon documents every notable duel to have occurred in California, from the arrival of U.S. dueling culture with the first American settlers to the end of dueling’s popularity on the eve of the Civil War.

In the heyday of dueling culture, men from all walks of life, from politicians to manual laborers, fought formal duels. Duels could be triggered by political battles to shape state government—or they could be fought over a woman or a personal slight. Braggarts often proved to be cowards on the field of honor, and many a quiet and peaceable man could shoot with deadly accuracy when reputation was at stake. For the California gentlemen of the 1850s, honor or dishonor—and life or death—could be decided with a single shot.

An exciting look at how women entrepreneurs are transforming agriculture through high technology.

Don't take the food you eat for granted. Farmers today face huge challenges in keeping your food supply secure—climate change, precarious water and soil supplies, and a growing global population projected to reach 10 billion people in 2050. Women innovators are tackling these problems to create a secure and sustainable food supply for the future. Using drones, artificial intelligence, sophisticated soil sensors, data analytics, blockchain, and robotics, these women are transforming agriculture into the growing field of agtech, the integration of agriculture and technology.

From Farms to Incubators presents inspiring stories and practical case studies of how women entrepreneurs from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds are leading the agtech revolution. Each agribusiness leader profiled in From Farms to Incubators tells her own story of how she used agtech innovation to solve specific business problems and succeed. The women profiled speak frankly on the advantages and drawbacks of technological solutions to agriculture and offer lessons in making technology productive in real work. These business cases demonstrate the influence of female innovation, the new technologies applied to agribusiness problems, and the career opportunities young women can find in agribusiness.

A must-read book for everyone interested in tech innovation and food security, From Farms to Incubators offers exhilarating role models for young women, a thought-provoking glimpse into the future of food production, and a fascinating investigation of how women leaders are profitably disrupting the world's oldest industry.

This fascinating and gripping portrayal is the only book-length account ever written about criminal mastermind Clarence Ray Allen, the last man to be executed in the state of California

Even hardened detectives were shaken by the scene at Fran's Market in rural Fresno County that night in 1980: four young people lay on the market's concrete floor, bloodily murdered by a killer without mercy or remorse. Then a grim investigation became even grimmer when the evidence led to the prime suspect--a convicted murderer already behind the stone walls of Folsom. A true crime story that reads like an intricately woven mystery, the book depicts the chilling scenes of murder, a dogged investigation, and the true story behind the Fran's Market murders and their psychopathic mastermind. Written by former prosecutor James Ardaiz, who was one of the first investigators on the scene at Fran's Market, Hands Through Stone provides an insider's view of the tortuous, multiyear investigation that brought a killer to justice.

A fun-filled look at the history and attractions of California's legendary Highway 101.

Now the road has the utilitarian designation of U.S. Route 101, but originally it had a name of romance and mystery—El Camino Real, or the King's Highway, built on the trail pioneered by the Spanish friars and marked by mission bells on the roadside. Illustrated throughout with historic photographs, Highway 101: The History of El Camino Real tells the picturesque story of this great highway and the restaurants, motels, gas stations, and roadside attractions that made it memorable to generations of travelers.

From Disneyland to the historic Madonna Inn to the Avenue of the Giants, Highway 101 catalogs the great landmarks along the road, plus the fascinating personalities, from Dorothea Lange to Jelly Roll Morton to Cecil B. DeMille, whose lives intersected with the history of the route.

A colorful history of Americana, commerce, travel, and fun, Highway 101 captures the magic of the open road.

A young man takes a summer job with a horse packer in the Sierra Nevada mountains—and receives a valuable education in the art of living—in a modern-day parable filled with love for horses, nature, and the majesty of the Sierras, based on the author’s real-life experience of 40 years horse packing in the John Muir Wilderness.

Pablo is 18, a young man bound for college and a promising future, but also directionless and drifting toward the gang life. Pablo’s mother, remembering his childhood love of horses back home in Mexico, arranges a summer job for him with podiatrist and commercial horse packer Dr. Clyde. Pablo finds himself far from the distractions of the city, leading pack horse trains through the stunning natural beauty of the John Muir Wilderness.

Along the way, Pablo receives a remarkable series of life lessons based on Dr. Clyde’s 40 years’ experience leading riders and hikers through the mountains. The guests that Clyde and Pablo encounter present many different models of how to live, both positive and negative, from arrogant know-it-all tourists to experienced and respectful outdoorsmen. As Dr. Clyde says, “You’ll find in this world, Pablo, that some people make very poor decisions. Sometimes it adversely affects others and sometimes it negatively affects themselves big-time.” Pablo and the reader learn that self-reliance, preparedness, and taking responsibility for one’s own safety help develop a confident and responsible adult.

With lyrical descriptions of the natural splendor of the mountains and charming line drawings of horses and scenery, Life Lessons on the Sierra Trail is a celebration of the outdoor life and how it builds character.

Even celebrities die—and author Allan Abbott was the man who picked up the bodies! He ran the leading hearse, mortuary, and funeral services company in Hollywood and got an unprecedented glimpse of how celebrities really live and die.

The Forrest Gump of the funeral industry, Abbott was everywhere celebrities died, from helping to prepare Marilyn Monroe’s body for burial to standing next to Christopher Walken at Natalie Wood’s funeral. Now in his memoir Pardon My Hearse, Abbott tells the rags-to-shroud story of how we went from a young man with a hearse to the funeral driver to the stars—a rollicking, unexpectedly hilarious story of glamorous funerals, mishaps with corpses, and true-life glimpses of celebrities at their most revealing moments. Pardon My Hearse is an eye-opening look at secret Hollywood from the man who literally knows where the bodies are buried.

An inspiring true story of teamwork, camaraderie, and Americans at war.

On January 23, 1943, a B-24 Liberator bomber and its crew of ten men disappeared without a trace in New Guinea. Their families never knew what happened to them. Now, 80 years later, their long-forgotten letters and dusty photographs finally tell their story in The All-American Crew.

Stanley Low did not want to be a hero and would not have welcomed the description. A Chinese American kid from Salem, Oregon, who wasn’t yet old enough to vote or drink beer, Stan joined the army because there was a war on and it was his duty. As Stan trains to become a bomber nose gunner and heads into combat, he experiences loneliness, racism, his first beer, his first romance, and the horrors of war.

Stan also builds tight bonds with his crewmates, who come from every American ethnicity and walk of life, including Irish American pilot Scott Regan and Jewish American bombardier Jerome Lesser. The ten men of Stan's bomber crew—rich and poor, from old American families and recent immigrants—form an all-American crew whose dedication to the country and their team elevates them above their individual differences.

As the war heats up, Stan, his crewmates, and many other hastily trained bomber crews fly off dirt runways in the South Pacific tropics, thousands of miles from the nearest allied base, fighting the relentless forces of the Japanese Empire. The loss of life mounts at an alarming rate as many crews fail to return from missions. Those who survive quickly learn to fight. Now battle-hardened veterans, Stan and his crew fly toward their final rendezvous with destiny, willing to sacrifice everything for their country and each other.

Celebrating American diversity and ideals of honor, bravery, and freedom, The All-American Crew is a magnificent true story of men at war.

The first complete scholarly work on a historically significant, yet almost entirely undocumented, California Indian tribe, The Chowchilla traces the history of the Chowchilla from their earliest known origins to today, with detailed information on the tribe’s kinship structure, social customs, and political development.

Until the Spaniards intruded on their territory, the Chowchilla Yokuts were peaceful hunter-gatherers. Outraged by Spanish oppression, the Chowchilla quickly learned the arts of war. They united the tribes of the California interior and led resistance movements against Spanish, Mexican, and American occupation. Among the California Indians, the name Chowchilla was a byword for bravery. Following the consolidation of American control of California, the Chowchilla were driven from their land, were forced to abandon their hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and sank into obscurity. The Chowchilla maintained their tribal identity by staying as out of sight as possible, sometimes not identifying themselves as Indian at all. In modern times, the Chowchilla are regaining their tribal identity and working to achieve federal recognition.

A serious contribution to American Indian history and anthropology, The Chowchilla shows the unique experiences and development of one California tribe from first contact all the way to the present, providing an invaluable reference for future scholars and for native people of other tribes as they redefine their tribes as independent political entities with traditional native values.

This expanded and revised second edition of The Chowchilla has been updated with seven years of additional research and study, shining a brighter light on the tribe’s honorable and courageous fight to preserve their rights against Spanish, Mexican, and American invasions.

A fun, nostalgic look at the great American stores of yesteryear and their rise and fall.

The wealthy and leisured lady of the 1920s shopped in a palatial downtown department store with a restaurant, beauty parlor, movie theater, and live orchestra—the harried suburban mom of today rushes her purchases through the self-checkout at the big box store. The Great American Shopping Experience explains how this transformation happened in a fascinating and entertaining history of the growth and decline of America's massive retail empires.

From the humble 19th century dry goods store to the majestic department stores of the early 20th century to the shopping malls and outlet stores of today, The Great American Shopping Experience tells the romantic story of Americans' relentless pursuit of the better bargain, surveying the changing fashions, social ideals, and marketing innovations that created shopping as we know it.

The Great American Shopping Experience also takes a nostalgic look back at the stores we loved, from the small regional stores that were gobbled up to the big chains that still survive today. If you've ever wondered what happened to your favorite store, The Great American Shopping Experience has the answers.

A popular history that is both fun and compelling, The Great American Shopping Experience tells an epic story of capitalism's powers of creative destruction, the repeated transformation of American society, fortunes made and unmade—and takes a fond look back at the great times and amazing deals we had along the way.

A nostalgic look back at the exciting teen music and dance craze of the 50s through the classic hits era of the 60s, 70s, and 80s

Twin Destinies tells the story of Pete and Mike Pappas, the twin sons of Greek immigrants who defied predictions of failure and worked their way to the top of the broadcasting business in the exciting and glamorous classic hits era of 1950s radio and television.

Pete and Mike pitched the idea for a show dedicated to teens, “Pete and Mike’s Dance Time,” in their hometown of Modesto, California, and, due to their talent and charismatic personalities, quickly found themselves local celebrities. Soon the twins entered the burgeoning television industry with their own half-hour program, “Pete and Mike’s Variety Show,” airing on KTVU in Stockton.

Fame followed Pete and Mike even after they enlisted in the military. While in the service, bags of fan mail arrived weekly, and love letters from fans followed them wherever they were based.

After returning from the service, Pete and Mike’s strong, loving bond as identical twins found them pursuing broadcasting careers and living their lives together, overcoming obstacles in the business world and achieving the success their immigrant parents had dreamed would one day be theirs.

Twin Destinies is a story of hard work, perseverance, and the love between twin brothers that was the foundation of their American success story.

An intimate, personal and healthy way to explore SF’s neighborhoods and secret finds

Walking San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive shows how walking—rather than driving—San Francisco’s famous scenic route gives you an active, fun way to enjoy and fall in love with the most beautiful city in the world. Get to know the City by the Bay as you never have before with this full color guidebook, which provides 17 bite-size walks, each complete with turn-by-turn instructions, maps, and historical facts and information. Get up close and personal with the most popular visitor locations in San Francisco, and explore the little known neighborhoods that the locals enjoy: Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, the Cliff House, Ocean Beach, Twin Peaks, Mission Dolores, even the Ferry Building and AT&T Park.

Walking San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive, written by two San Francisco "insiders," includes detailed maps, points of interest, info on bus routes and parking, recommendations for visiting "hidden gems" and must-see museums, plus plenty of tips and stats to help walkers, such as step counts and mile distances, hill steepness rating, weather tips, and more. Along with the 17 well-crafted primary walks, the book also offers fantastic bonus hikes through beaches, parks, stunning oceanside cliffs, and historic neighborhoods.

Early one spring morning, disaster struck San Francisco, and a young man grabbed his camera and started documenting the destruction and death surrounding him. Fearlessly going to the center of the devastation, the man captured scenes of fires, collapsing buildings, and people fleeing for their lives—scenes that no one else had a chance to record. His photographs were preserved in a family photo album, unseen by the public for over a hundred years.

When San Francisco Burned presents for the first time the photographs that young man, Louis P. Selby, took of the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. These amazingly detailed and dramatic photographs show the earthquake and its aftermath from a street-level perspective, giving readers an unprecedented look at what it was really like to be in San Francisco during those terrible days. Selby’s photographs document the immediate damage of the earthquake; horrific action shots of fire consuming San Francisco; the heroic efforts of police, soldiers, and ordinary citizens to maintain order and protect the people; the somber ruins of San Francisco after the blaze; the misery and pluck of the refugee camps; and the city’s earliest days of rebirth and rebuilding. These unique, never-before-published photographs show the horrors of the earthquake and fire—and the stubborn resistance of the people of San Francisco—like you’ve never seen them before. An invaluable addition to the historical record, When San Francisco Burned is a must-have book for anyone who loves San Francisco and its history.