THE BROWNS OF CALIFORNIA
The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation
Paperback Available Oct. 15, 2019 | ORDER HERE
The Browns Of California is a panoramic history of California and its impact on the nation, from the Gold Rush to Silicon Valley-told through the lens of the family dynasty that led the state for nearly a quarter century.
Even in the land of reinvention, the story is exceptional: Pat Brown, the beloved father who presided over California during an era of unmatched expansion; Jerry Brown, the cerebral son who became the youngest governor in modern times – and then returned three decades later as the oldest.
In The Browns of California, journalist and scholar Miriam Pawel weaves a narrative history that spans four generations, from August Schuckman, the Prussian immigrant who crossed the Plains in 1852 and settled on a northern California ranch, to his great-grandson Jerry Brown, who reclaimed the family homestead one hundred forty years later. Through the prism of their lives, we gain an essential understanding of California and an appreciation of its importance.
Miriam Pawel’s fascinating book charts four generations of the Brown family …Pawel bills her family saga as a ‘lens through which to tell a unique history of the 31st state’ but it does much more. Her engaging narrative of the politics, ideas and policies of the two Edmund Browns illuminates the sea change in the nation’s politics in the last half of the 20thcentury. – New York Times Book Review– Lisa McGirr, Sept. 16, 2018
Pawel charts the family’s fortunes from the 1852 arrival of Augustus Schuckman, Pat Brown’s maternal grandfather, to Jerry Brown’s unprecedented fourth term as governor. To do that, she must summarize countless issues, events and movements, many of them complex. That she does so quickly and deftly is no small part of her achievement. Pawel’s narrative is unflaggingly direct, but it also functions as deep art, for the book is actually a history of California posing as a family portrait. Whether it’s the Gold Rush, Japanese internment, Free Speech Movement, Watts riots, Proposition 13 or climate change, the Brown story reflects large portions of California’s past and much of its present….a skillful portrait.–San Francisco Chronicle- Peter Richardson, Sept. 9, 2018 – Link to full review: https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/the-browns-of-california-by-miriam-pawel
Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in history
UPCOMING EVENTS: 
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10/17/18 The Gamble House, Pasadena 6:30 PM
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10/24/19 – Rakestraw Books, Danville, 7 PM. In conversation with Frances Dinkelspiel
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10/25/19 – City Arts & Lectures, San Francisco, 7 PM. A conversation with Jerry Brown, moderated by Lara Bazelon
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11/1/19 – Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Santa Clara University, 9:30 AM
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11/21/19 – Bee Book Club, Sacramento Library, 6 PM
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12/2/19 – Commonwealth Club book group discussion, Commonwealth Club, San Francisco
OTHER BOOKS BY MIRIAM PAWEL:
The Crusades of Cesar Chavez
Recommended in starred reviews and hailed by experts in the field, “The Crusades of Cesar Chavez” is the first comprehensive biography of the most significant Latino leader in recent American history. Rigorously researched and riveting in its dramatic arc, this is a searching, empathetic portrayal of a leader whose legacy and lessons have never been more relevant than today.
The Union of Their Dreams
The dramatic narrative of the farm worker movement, from its improbable early success and heady days through its tragic decline. Told through the eyes of eight participants, this collective biography is a must read for anyone interested in understanding social change.