Name: Ghosts and Legends of Hollywood
Brand: Brian Clune
SKU: 9781467155182
Price: 16.49 USD
Availability: InStock

Ghosts and Legends of Hollywood

9781467155182

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Cursed awards, haunted estates, and deadly sets.

Hollywood is supposed to be the place where dreams come true, but it's also where nightmares come to life. Spirits haunt the halls of renowned studios, legendary cafes, and lavish estates, while rumors of curses lurk in the shadows of the rich and famous. It's said that stars like James Dean, Carrie Fisher, and Prince once predicted their own deaths, while slain screenwriter Paul Bern tried in vain to warn Sharon Tate about her own fate. Ghosts reportedly linger in the corners of the El Coyote Café and the Falcon Lair boasts sightings of Rudolph Valentino long after his death.

Join author and paranormal historian Brian Clune for a star-studded tour of the dark side of Hollywood.

Southern California Funny Cars

9781467109727

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Southern California was the birthplace of organized drag racing, with the first organized race held at the Santa Ana airport in 1949 and the subsequent founding of the National Hot Rod Association in 1950. Over the next decade and a half, the dragster became the king of the quarter mile on Southern California drag strips. In 1964, veteran dragster owner/driver Jack Chrisman had an idea for something different to grace Southern California's drag strips. It was not a dragster but a stock-bodied race car using nitromethane for fuel in a supercharged engine. With the help of Gene Mooneyham, Mercury's Fran Hernandez, and sponsor Helen Sachs, Chrisman put together the world's first nitro-burning "funny car." It was a steel stock-bodied Mercury Cyclone with a supercharged 427 Ford engine running on pure nitromethane. Chrisman started the evolution that soon turned stock steel-bodied cars into fiberglass-bodied tube chassis funny cars. Southern California drag racers began to lead the way for racers all over the United States in the new funny car class.

California Dreamin' Along Route 66

9781467103169

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The California Dream made Route 66 the most famous road in the world. Flappers dreamed of stardom under the bright lights of Hollywood. A wave of families fleeing the Dust Bowl transformed the state during the Great Depression. During World War II, another wave followed Route 66 seeking opportunity in the massive wartime industrial plants. Thousands of soldiers trained in the Mojave Desert and then returned amid the postwar prosperity to blossoming housing developments that replaced the vast orange groves. While Nat King Cole sang "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66," the newly prosperous middle class hit the road headed for the dream land constructed by Walt Disney. Inspired by the Beat poets, the hippies, and the adventures of Buz and Tod on the CBS television show Route 66, a new generation took to the open road. Those who savor the journey as much as the destination still seek it out on Route 66 today.

Haunted Universal Studios

9781467141215

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Talented entrepreneur Carl Laemmle led and won the fight against Thomas Edison's filming monopoly and built Universal City out of the dirt of Hollywood. He created a place of wonder and imagination, and now, decades later, Universal Studios is filled with rumors of ghosts. Frank Stites, an aviator killed while performing stunts during the grand opening celebrations in 1915, is said to still roam the backlot. Lon Chaney, a silent film actor, plagues sound stage no. 28, while Alfred Hitchcock haunts Steven Spielberg's office. Lucille Ball has been spotted more than once long after her death. Authors Brian Clune and Bob Davis explore the eerie and haunting history behind this entertaining façade.

Scotty's Castle

9781467116756

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Scotty's Castle is a study in contrasts, much like its setting in Death Valley. While the castle is known worldwide and has been visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists, many myths persist. It is not a castle, nor was it owned by Walter E. Scott, known as "Death Valley Scotty." But the Spanish-style hacienda, also known as Death Valley Ranch, has always been linked to Scott. This book explores the fascinating history of Death Valley Scotty, Albert and Bessie Johnson (the true owners and builders of the castle), and the castle itself from construction to private living quarters to a tourist facility owned and operated by the National Park Service.

Knott's Berry Farm:

9780738569215

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Before there was a Disneyland, there was Knott's Berry Farm. What started out in the early 1920s as a small, roadside berry stand in Buena Park, California, grew over the next 60 years into one of the most popular amusement parks in the world. Its founder, Walter Knott, along with his wife and family, knew no boundaries when it came to expanding his small berry market and tearoom into the world-famous Chicken Dinner Restaurant and later adding his ultimate achievement, Ghost Town. This book documents the early history of Knott's Berry Farm, featuring over 200 rarely seen images.

Hollywood Tiki

9781467149907

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Island Escapes, South Seas Adventures, and Musical Surf Parties of Midcentury Cinema

Tiki Culture arose as the defining expression of American pop culture during World War II and its influence continued through the 1960s. The essence of Tiki featured heavily in films of the era, depicting palm-tree and cocktail-laden escapes that captivated audiences nationwide. Films like South Pacific and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit were a hodgepodge of jungle imagery and World War II Pacific theater memories. A fascination with the new State of Hawaii was reflected in Elvis's Blue Hawaii, while balmy youth flicks like Beach Blanket Bingo and Gidget showcased surf, sun and fun.

Join authors Jason Henderson and Adam Foshko as they explore films about the experiences of war filtered through the tropical splendor that defined an era.

Pacific Coast Highway in California

9781467127516

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

More commonly known as Pacific Coast Highway, State Route 1 ribbons along or near the Pacific Ocean from Northern California at Leggett in Mendocino down to Southern California at San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. Its construction began in 1913 and was done incrementally, largely because of funding issues, shortage of labor, legal challenges, deep canyons, steep mountains, solid rock, and unstable earth. A true modern marvel, its unique and extraordinary construction allows easy access to some of the country's most famous and historical places and picturesque sights. Thousands of pounds of dynamite were used to blast through granite, marble, and sandstone to build a highway following near or along the coastline. Among the 33 bridges along the route is the remarkable Bixby (Rainbow) Bridge at Big Sur. The highway wends its way through some of the most magnificent and scenic landscapes and historical places found between Ventura and Humboldt Counties, making it more than just a road. It is a destination.

Northern California Drag Racing

9781467108171

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Organized drag racing began in Northern California in 1949 thanks to World War II veterans with a "need for speed." Towns like Redding, Lodi, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Fremont would host their own drag events featuring homebuilt jalopies. Anyone with a driver's license and a paid entry fee could participate, and as the cars got more sophisticated and faster, more and more spectators came to watch the local "speed demons." By the 1960s, a metamorphosis began with the introduction of the slingshot-style dragsters. For the next 12 years, the slingshot dragster was the king of the quarter mile, and it made stars of Gary Ormsby, Frank Bradley, Dennis Baca, and James Warren. Meanwhile, in 1965, a funny new race car challenged "The King" as it gained popularity in Northern California. Leading this funny car charge was a Pennsylvania transplant named Russell James Liberman. However, the golden years of Northern California drag racing came to an end in the mid-1970s. Today, only 5 out of 17 drag strips are still open. Photographer Steve Reyes journeyed into the world of Northern California drag racing in 1963 as a 15-year-old kid. Upon seeing an advertisement from the Oakland Tribune that read, "Come see the nitro powered 200mph slingshot dragsters," Reyes and his father made the 23-mile trek to the Fremont drag strip. With the noise of high-powered engines filling the air, Reyes was hooked and made it his duty to capture this one-of-a-kind world on film.

Route 66 in California

9780738530376

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

The "Mother Road" hauled it all, traversing the American West from Chicago to Santa Monica Beach, the last 350 miles through Southern California. For settlers, Depression-era "Okies" and "Arkies," and post-World War II families bound for suburbia, Route 66 was a migration funnel for generations. Wending through the mountains and badlands of San Bernardino County into Los Angeles County, Route 66 became a state of mind and a catchphrase for travelers everywhere, especially after singer Bobby Troupe popularized the hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and actors Martin Milner and George Maharis hit the road with the ragtop down and the shades on in the namesake television series that seemed to go anywhere every week. The shield of the Route 66 sign has become iconography for the growth of Southern California's economy, population, popularity, and folklore.

The Hollywood Scandal Almanac: Twelve Months of Sinister, Salacious, and Senseless History

9781609497026

$14.99 $11.24 Save 25%

The real-life scandals of Hollywood's personalities rival any drama they bring to life on the silver screen. The Hollywood Scandal Almanac provides daily doses of high and low crimes, fraud and deceit, culled from Tinseltown's checkered past. The exploits of silent-era stars Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle are recounted, along with the midcentury misdeeds of Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe and the modern excesses of Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan. This calendar of Hollywood transgressions has a sensational true tale for every day of the year. Join author Jerry Roberts on a tongue-in-cheek trip down a stormy memory lane filled with sneaky affairs, box-office bombs and careers cut short--sometimes by murder. It's a collection that proves the drama doesn't end when the credits roll.

The Hollywood Scandal Almanac: Twelve Months of Sinister, Salacious, and Senseless History

Alameda County Sheriff's Office

9781467160803

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

In 1853, Alameda County was formed on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. On the land route to the California goldfields, the primarily agricultural county had problems with cattle rustling and thievery. It had the reputation of being one of the most lawless areas around. From famous lawmen like Harry Morse to infamous outlaws like Joaquin Murietta, the sheriff and deputies of Alameda County had their hands full. As the county changed, so did the law enforcement challenges. By the 20th century, the sheriff's office was dealing with antiwar demonstrations, riots, kidnappings, suburban and rural crime, earthquakes, and other disasters that found the men and women of county law enforcement always ready to respond. Often the challenges became newsworthy. During the 1960s and 1970s, the sheriff's office riot squad became internationally known as the "Blue Meanies."
Steven Minniear, a local historian, collected and assembled photographs and information from throughout Alameda County to bring to light the forgotten stories of the sheriff's office. Many of these previously unseen photographs come from the Alameda County Sheriff's Archive. In that process, he uncovered the lost stories and forgotten incidents that shaped the office and the communities it serves.

Bodie

9780738559865

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Nestled amongst the sage-covered, windswept hills of California's Eastern Sierra is the site of one of the most notorious mining towns of the Old West. In 1859, gold was discovered in the treeless hills northeast of Mono Lake. By 1879, Bodie was a metropolis of nearly 10,000 souls and was briefly the third-largest city in California. Excitement was short-lived, however, and word soon spread that the mines had reached peak production. An exodus began, but contrary to popular belief, Bodie was never totally abandoned. People continued living in this curious and beautiful place throughout the 1950s, and in 1962, the California State Parks system purchased the town site. Now stabilized against the elements, Bodie is today known as the largest unrestored ghost town in the West.

History of Alcatraz Island since 1853, A

9781467108577

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

As one of America's most notorious prisons, Alcatraz has been a significant part of California's history since 1853.

The small island known in sea charts by its Spanish name Isla de los Alcatraces or "Island of Pelicans" laid essentially dormant until the 1850s, when the US military converted the island into a fortress to protect the booming San Francisco region. Alcatraz served as a pivotal military position until the early 20th century and in 1934 was converted into a federal penitentiary to house some of America's most incorrigible prisoners. The penitentiary closed in 1963, and Alcatraz joined the National Park Service system in 1972. Since then, it has remained one of the Bay Area's most popular attractions as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Gregory L. Wellman, a California-based consultant, reveals in these images the evolution of Alcatraz. The island's startling transformation comes alive through the photographic collections of the Alcatraz Alumni Association, the Golden Gate National Archives, and other private collections from around the country. This stirring imagery documents the evolution of one of America's most renowned and memorable landmarks.

History of Alcatraz Island since 1853, A

Legends of Westwood Village Cemetery

9781467160643

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery, located on Los Angeles's trendy west side, has been the leading choice for celebrity burials since Marilyn Monroe was interred here in 1962. The cemetery houses the remains of a plethora of household names, including Patty Andrews, Eve Arden, Lew Ayres, Jim Backus, Richard Basehart, Peter Bogdanovich, Ray Bradbury, Fanny Brice, Les Brown, Truman Capote, John Cassavetes, James Coburn, Jackie Collins, Richard Conte, Tim Conway, Bob Crane, Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Dawson, Kirk Douglas, Peter Falk, Farrah Fawcett, June Foray, Stan Freberg, Eva Gabor, Merv Griffin, Jonathan Harris, Hugh Hefner, Florence Henderson, Brian Keith, Stan Kenton, Jack Klugman, Don Knotts, Burt Lancaster, Peggy Lee, Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Karl Malden, Dean Martin, Walter Matthau, Rod McKuen, David Nelson, Lloyd Nolan, Carroll O'Connor, Heather O'Rourke, Bettie Page, Wolfgang Petersen, Gregor Piatigorsky, Donna Reed, Buddy Rich, Minnie Riperton, Doris Roberts, Wayne Rogers, George C. Scott, Sidney Sheldon, Robert Stack, Dorothy Stratten, Alvin Toffler, Mel Tormé, Josef von Sternberg, Harry Warren, Cornel Wilde, Billy Wilder, Carl Wilson, Natalie Wood, Darryl F. Zanuck, Frank Zappa, and hundreds more.
n Legends of Westwood Village Cemetery , Hollywood film historians husband-and-wife team E.J. and Kim Stephens and Phil Lantis take readers on a fascinating tour of this unique Los Angeles burial ground.

RMS Queen Mary

9780738580678

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Launched in an era when speed and grandeur went hand in hand, the RMS Queen Mary is the last survivor of the golden age of ocean liners. From the time of her maiden voyage in 1936, passengers crossed the North Atlantic cocooned in luxury. Movie stars, tycoons, politicians, and royalty shared a ship with everyday people, for whom this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. During World War II, the Queen Mary ferried countless soldiers safely across the sea and, at war's end, carried their brides and babies home to America. Refurbished and polished to her previous glory, the Queen Mary continued to carry passengers until her final voyage to Long Beach in 1967. The RMS Queen Mary now serves as a floating hotel and tourist attraction, a living testament to her glamorous history, a generous showcase of art, and a magnificent example of a time when oceans could be crossed in both comfort and beauty.

Ghost Towns of Death Valley

9781467132275

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Although the Death Valley area is sparsely populated, it once was home to a good many towns, some of which not only have disappeared from the desert but also from history. Even though the name "Death Valley" itself evokes dark and foreboding images devoid of life, there was a surprising number of towns that did exist in or near the 3.4 million acres that comprise Death Valley National Park. Many had the amenities of larger cities, and some thrived before being deserted and melting back into the desert. The visual record of many of these towns and their occupants is featured in this book.

Death Valley Gold Rush

9781467108485

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

From the mid-19th century to the 1930s, no place in America was more feared or mysterious than the stretch of desert on the California-Nevada border known as Death Valley. While today Death Valley National Park is seen as a place of natural beauty and scenic wonders, there were once rumors of vaporous gases so toxic that birds flying overhead would drop dead instantly. One of the first Americans to encounter this dreaded land was William Lewis Manly, who left his Wisconsin home for California's 1849 Gold Rush and who heroically saved those lost pioneers who would give Death Valley its name. Other pioneers in the early 20th century were Frank "Shorty'? Harris, who made Death Valley's biggest gold strike; the Hoyt brothers, who, in 1908, struck it rich in a place called Skidoo; and in the 1920s, a con man named C.C. Julian, who used the valley's reputation to scam naive investors. There was a time when the entire country seemed to be consumed with news and tales of the Death Valley Gold Rush.

Vanished San Francisco

9781467109215

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

San Francisco is well-known for its beautiful vistas and fascinating destinations. However, many places that were once part of the San Francisco experience have vanished from the land, lost to earthquakes, fire, development, and other forces that led to their disappearance, but not from memory. Sand dunes have been replaced by buildings and streets, homes now cover previously desolate areas where cemeteries once stood, and beloved buildings are gone due to various reasons. San Francisco's lost treasures also include the popular Hamm's sign, the former two-toned foghorn, and the first insect to go extinct in the United States due to human behavior. Like most cities, San Francisco is constantly changing. Places appear and disappear, and the city grows and changes, always ready to rebuild and remake history.

San Francisco's Chinatown

9781467116824

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

San Francisco's Chinatown--the oldest, largest, and most famous Chinese enclave outside of Asia--is more than a tourist attraction. Since its birth in the 1850s, Chinatown has also been a residential neighborhood, business community, and cultural center for generations of Chinese Americans. This collection of vintage photographs, taken from public archives and private collections, looks beyond the facade of Chinatown to show the realities of daily life, including a community's struggle for survival against racial hostility, exclusion laws, two major earthquakes, and urban renewal. The images of ordinary people working, shopping, and socializing in Chinatown, combined with the changing streetscape, historic landmarks, and significant cultural and political events, are organized into three historical periods, providing a panoramic view of community transformation from the gold rush to the present day.

Death at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles

9781467150187

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Built during Los Angeles's rapid growth in the Roaring Twenties, the Beaux Arts-style Cecil Hotel was briefly a glimmering downtown landmark until it became one of the most infamous sites of violence and murder in the country. Nicknamed "The Suicide," the Cecil was the eerie location of more than a dozen people taking their own lives going back to the 1940s and '50s. Rumors still swirl that Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, frequented the hotel in the days before her gruesome murder. Serial killer Richard "Night Stalker" Ramirez lived at the Cecil for long stays in the 1980s. Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger murdered three sex workers while a guest at the Cecil in 1991. Author Dale Perelman charts the brutal and mysterious history of Los Angeles's most notorious hotel.

Abalone Diving on the California Coast

9781467160285

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Abalones are marine snails from the family Haliotidae . This family of shellfish is comprised of 56 recognized species worldwide and eight known species in California. The Native Peoples of California fished and dove for abalone for thousands of years. Chinese immigrants first arrived in California around 1850 to work in the goldfields and on the railroads. Some found their way to Monterey and discovered an abundance of large red abalone that nobody was using. By the mid-1890s, Japanese fishermen had also discovered this rich abundance of abalone. Soon, the Japanese introduced helmet diving technology to the fishery. In 1908, a German restaurateur in Monterey began slicing abalone into steaks. Soon, men from the Azores and elsewhere started fishing abalone along the Central Coast of California. By the 1950s, there were hundreds of people and families fishing this delicacy commercially and thousands more fishing for recreation and subsistence. Steven L. Rebuck grew up in the abalone fishery and served as the abalone technical consultant to the Southern Sea Otter Recovery Team from 1993 to 2004. Christopher Rebuck, a software development manager, is a native Californian and Steven's oldest son. He began surfing and hunting abalone at the age of five. Tim Thomas is the former historian and curator of the Monterey Maritime Museum. He authored The Abalone King of Monterey: "Pop" Ernest Doelter, Pioneering Japanese Fishermen & the Culinary Classic that Saved an Industry with The History Press in 2013.

1906 San Francisco Earthquake

9780738596587

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 is an unparalleled disaster in the history of San Francisco. More than 4.5 square miles of San Francisco burned and crumbled into a windswept desert of desolation. We will see this scene from behind the camera, covering before the earthquake through the fire and into the rebuilding of the city. The waterfront in the east to Golden Gate Park in the west and the marina in the north to Mission District in the south will be viewed. City hall and along Market Street through the center of the city will be covered. Stories from survivors and new information, like doctored photographs, will be included. Thirty years of research will be merged to give you an accurate account.

Lost Amusement Parks of Southern California

9781467106917

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

After World War II, veterans and their growing families flocked to sunny Southern California for jobs in the aerospace and defense industries. Capitalizing on the baby boom and expanding suburbs, amusement parks sprang up to entertain residents and their visiting relatives. The crown jewel was Disneyland, which focused on themed sections and changed amusement parks forever. Other parks followed, transforming Southern California into one of the world's top vacation destinations. Parks like Lion Country Safari, Corriganville, and Marineland--along with many kiddie lands and animal, water, and theme parks--came and went in the postwar decades. Some were planned but never developed, while existing popular parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios periodically close rides only to substitute them with attractions considered more crowd-pleasing.

Lost Amusement Parks of Southern California

Aviators in Early Hollywood

9780738559025

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Hollywood's leading aviators were heroic knights of the sky on the screen as well as in real life. These leading aviators performed aerial stunt sequences and acted, plus some wrote and directed motion pictures. Directing giant Cecil B. DeMille was so enthralled with aviation that he owned three airfields. Charlie Chaplin's family airfield also doubled as a motion-picture set. Thomas H. Ince, the famous producer who invented the studio system, owned Ince Airfield, which became the hub of Hollywood aviation. Eternal legends Rudolph Valentino, Oliver Hardy, Harry Houdini, and Mary Pickford performed in aerials. Many aviators gave their lives making motion pictures; three fatalities were incurred for Howard Hughes's great air epic, Hell's Angels. Hughes himself broke records within aircraft and film production. Aviators brought their screen work to life between films through barnstorming. The roaring in 1920s Hollywood was often aviators soaring beyond limits.

San Francisco's 1939-1940 World's Fair

9781467106160

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Author Bill Cotter gives readers a glimpse into the ingenuity, creativity, and artistry behind San Francisco's 1939-1940 World's Fair through stunning photographs of the architecture, artwork, gardens, exhibits, and shows. See why this fair, centered on the unveiling of the Golden Gate and Bay bridges, attracted over 2 million tourists during the 382 days it was open.

The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) was a massive undertaking. The city of San Francisco had long looked for a site for a new airport to service the Pacific market, and the fair provided the impetus to build Treasure Island, a man-made island that would eventually service the massive seaplanes in use at the time. The GGIE also helped cement the Bay Area as a tourism and business center, competing directly with the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair. While New York centered more on the industrial side, the GGIE showcased the many natural wonders of the West, with expansive gardens and complementing architecture. The GGIE was a success on all counts, enticing millions of visitors to travel to the region. When the fair was over, Treasure Island became an important naval base during World War II. Bill Cotter is a longtime world's fair enthusiast and has traveled to many of these international exhibitions. The author of several other books on fairs for Arcadia, he is a frequent contributor to other books, magazines, and documentaries on world's fairs, and he has spoken extensively on the subject. His photograph collection has been featured in museum exhibits, and he operates several popular websites devoted to the study and appreciation of the fairs.

Southern Pacific in California

9780738582078

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Southern Pacific Railroad is California's railroad. As the Central Pacific, it bored and blasted its way east from Sacramento, across the towering High Sierra, meeting with the Union Pacific at Promontory, Utah, completing the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, and profoundly changing the growing United States. By the early 20th century, the Southern Pacific was a rail colossus, stretching from San Francisco Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Yet the Southern Pacific remained essentially Californian. Its rail lines gave muscle to the lovely California coast, the fertile San Joaquin and Imperial Valleys, and the timber industry of the north coast. Yet for all its might and majesty, for many Californians the Southern Pacific was a smaller, more intimate part of the fabric of their daily lives.

Ghosts and Legends of Alcatraz

9781467143875

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Alcatraz is one of the most infamous prisons in the world. Evil spirits, unknown beasts, vicious murderers and an untold number of ghosts all are said to reside on this tiny island in San Francisco Bay. Rufus McCain, who died a brutal death at the hands of a fellow inmate, is said to roam the grounds, and the basement cells used for solitary confinement were rumored to be so frightening that inmates who endured one stint never wanted to go back. Multiple escape attempts were thwarted, including two attempts by Sam Shockley, who was later executed with fellow inmate Miran Thomson. Join Bob Davis and Brian Clune as they explore chilling tales of death, murder and savagery from America's Devil's Island.

Location Filming in the Alabama Hills

9781467131315

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Forged from glaciers and sacred to Native Americans, the mountains, boulders, and rocks of the Alabama Hills mirror landscapes found all over the world. A scenic three-hour drive from the Hollywood sign, this location would prove to serve as the place to make movies. Early Hollywood studios sent location scouts to the area after hearing stories shared by travelers, and the rest is movie history. Over 500 films have completed shooting here, including silents, A movies, B Westerns, serials, sci-fi, film noir, television shows, and commercials. Tom Mix, Errol Flynn, John Wayne, William Boyd, Clayton Moore, Lucille Ball, Roy Rogers, Natalie Wood, Humphrey Bogart, Steve McQueen, Russell Crowe, Jamie Foxx, and many more have all scrambled amongst the terrain in the Alabama Hills.

Early Warner Bros. Studios

9780738580913

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Since 1928, Warner Bros. has produced thousands of beloved films and television shows at the studio's magical 110-acre film factory in Burbank. This collection of evocative images concentrates on the Warner Bros. legacy from the 1920s to the 1950s, when timeless classics such as Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, and East of Eden came to life. It also looks at WB's earlier homes along Hollywood's "Poverty Row," the birthplace of Looney Tunes, and the site of WB's pioneering marriage between film and sound in the 1920s. Early Warner Bros. Studios also tells the tale of four brothers--Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner--scions of a Polish Jewish immigrant family who rose from the humblest of origins to become Hollywood moguls of enormous and lasting influence.

Yosemite National Park and Vicinity

9780738531427

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

The astonishing scenery of Yosemite National Park is known throughout the world, primarily for the soaring granite outcroppings and graceful waterfalls around Yosemite Valley. But this park is much larger than just the valley. Relatively few visitors get to experience Yosemite's vast expanses, whether south to Wawona and Fish Camp or east to White Wolf and Tuolumne Meadows. Indeed, it was John Muir's efforts to protect the meadows and hills around the valley that ultimately led to the establishment of Yosemite National Park in 1890. The state park, which had been established in 1863 and consisted of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees, was added to the federal park in 1913.

Legends of Hollywood Forever Cemetery

9781467125864

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Founded in 1899, scenic Hollywood Forever Cemetery--the only cemetery located within the city of Hollywood--serves as the "permanent home" for many of Hollywood's most famous (and infamous) characters. Hollywood Forever Cemetery boasts a fascinating history surpassed only by the compelling stories of its famous residents. Behind its iron gates are the graves of Cecil B. DeMille, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Tyrone Power, Nelson Eddy, Marion Davies, Fay Wray, Mel Blanc, Johnny Ramone, Don Adams, Bebe Daniels, Bugsy Siegel, and a host of others whose memorials tell the history of Tinseltown in stone.

Orinda

9781467108652

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

In 1835, cousins Joaquin Moraga and Juan Bernal were granted 13,326 acres in present-day Lamorinda, California, in grateful thanks to their ancestor, Lt. José Joaquin Moraga, second in command during Mexico's 1776 Anza Expedition. By 1850, California had become America's 31st state, and squatters were overrunning the property. Within 34 years of receiving its land grant, the family had lost everything. But the house that Moraga built still remains--the oldest surviving adobe in the county. Over the years, land was bought and sold, fortunes made and lost, and a railroad, intended to go all the way from Emeryville to Utah, ran out of steam when it reached Orinda. Families, long gone now, gave their names to familiar landmarks, but it was not until the 1920s, when E.I. de Laveaga laid down the blueprint for this jewel in the East Bay's crown, that Orinda truly began to take shape. One hundred years later, Orinda, home to over 20,000 people within 13 square miles, has become the 299th largest city in California.

Bakersfield

9781467109918

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Bakersfield was established in 1863 in the western shadow of the Sierra Nevada at the intersection of two of the country's defining events: the California Gold Rush and the Civil War. Bakersfield's first generation of pioneers--gold-seekers, Southern sympathizers, and European immigrants--tamed the region's confluence of swamps and built a frontier town. Over the next century, the town at the southern tip of California's San Joaquin Valley produced a noteworthy array of heroes, poets, leaders, and scoundrels, including the most influential Supreme Court chief justice in the nation's history, two best-selling country artists, decorated athletes, brilliant innovators, and corrupt lawmen. Founded by Col. Thomas Baker, Bakersfield prospered atop fertile soil unmatched anywhere on the planet and crude oil reserves that had few peers. During the Dust Bowl migration, it became a beacon of hope to the refugees of the nation's most dire ecological disaster and, consequently, a unique region that writer Gerald Haslam came to call the Other California. Today, Bakersfield is California's ninth-largest city and among its fastest-growing. The story of its first century is presented here in words and pictures.

Lost California

9781467160605

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The postcards in this collection reflect a hidden past of California that exists now only on the page. From college gates at Stanford destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and hotels in Catalina, Santa Barbara, and Oakland ravaged by fire to giant redwoods on the coast felled by storms and much of downtown Los Angeles razed in the name of the progress, California's landscape has changed dramatically in the last 125 years. The buildings demolished in San Diego's Balboa Park after the 1915 exposition closed are shown here as is downtown San Francisco before the earthquake and fire of 1906, amusement parks that decorated waterfronts from Long Beach to Santa Monica, and city halls from Anaheim to San Jose.