Rush for Riches: Gold Fever

¶ … Rush for Riches: Gold Fever and the Making of California by J.S. Holliday. Specifically it will contain a book review of the book. California's modern history in the United States is framed by the Gold Rush of 1849, and the onrush of settlers the rush brought to the state. This book chronicles the history of the Golden State from before the rush, when California was a sleepy Mexican territory (and even before that, to early exploration, settlement, and displacement of the Native Americans, to the end of the nineteenth century when California was poised to become one of the most influential states in the Union.

Rush for Riches" is an in-depth look into California history that helps the reader understand the formation of California as a state, how important the gold was to California's becoming a state so quickly, and how the early history has helped lead California to become the state it is today. To introduce the Gold Rush, the author writes, "Then in January 1848 everything changed, beyond imagining. From Coloma, a quiet vale in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, stories spread of men finding gold - and more gold" (Holliday 459). One of the reasons this book is so successful is that the author has a very easy writing style that is interesting to read, and he peppers the book with period accounts, documents, and eyewitness accounts of life in Old California. He makes the reader understand what it was like to live and work in the goldfields, and he brings up details that many other histories overlook. For example, he talks about the economic effect the Gold Rush had on eastern communities as hundreds and even thousands of residents packed up and headed for the goldfields. He writes, "The economic reverberations of this money raising caused alarm in several states where editors lamented the loss of capital withdrawn to support the sudden needs of men afflicted with the gold fever" (Holliday 105). It is this kind of commentary that helps the reader feel as if they are a part of the action, while gaining a deeper understanding of the events surrounding the Gold Rush and California's rise in stature, rather than just the events of the rush itself.

Part of the impact of this book is the lush illustrations, maps, and photos that illustrate the text. They make it more interesting, help set the different periods in time in the reader's mind, and they help make the entire book more entertaining and relevant to the reader. The rush comes alive because of all the illustrations, documents, and other elements of the book's design, and it makes the book more complete and fulfilling, somehow. The author often quotes from primary documents like letters, journals, newspapers, and diaries, and that helps make the book more real to the reader, too. It is possible to actually feel what the pioneers were feeling as they crossed the desert on the last leg of their journey to California, and it helps make the hardships and their determination more real, as well.