The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream by H.W. Brands
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Age of Gold is a book about the settling of California and the gold rush. It’s divided up into five parts that each describe a different time, place, and perspective. I enjoyed the first three sections much more than the last two as the first three sections deal directly with California and the gold rush itself, while the last two sections deal more with California’s place within the American Union at the time of the civil war.
The most amazing stories found in The Age of Gold are those of the miners who came to California searching for a new life. Some of the immigrants sailed around Cape Horn, others cut thru Panama, and others came overland across the western plains. Today we are connected online and we have access to digital maps like Google Maps, so it’s hard to imagine a time when immigrants to California travelling across the American plains didn’t even have a clear route. They had to guess and estimate which trail and direction would lead them to California. The Age of Gold describes some of the hardships that these travelers to California faced.
