Two longtime county residents, Linda Rucker Hutchens and Ella J. Wilmont Smith, assembled the collection of photographs of local churches, landmarks, organizations, events, sports, schools, businesses and community leaders.

“Images of America’s Presidio of Monterey by Harold E. Raugh Jr. of Marina is a rich treasure trove of photos that tells the history of one of the Monterey Peninsula’s major landmarks.”

“The photographs in the book show not only the evolution of the modern presidio, but also ‘the human side of soldiering’ and of foreign language training in the 20th century and beyond. In compiling information and photos of the presidio, Raugh has helped preserve the military history and heritage from its days as an infantry and cavalry post, to the modern incarnation as the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.”

“But Raugh’s early military history also includes two tours of duty as an infantryman stationed at Fort Ord, and he has combined his military experience and historian’s meticulous attention to detail in a new book released in Arcadia Publishing’s series, Images of America: Fort Ord.”

Reading Lauren Coodley's heartfelt history of Napa feels a lot like sitting in a darkened movie theater watching a black-and-white newsreel on the silver screen. In this book, as in those newsreels, earth-shaking events rush by. Charismatic personalities wander on stage and off stage. Time marches on, and a tone of breathless enthusiasm propels the story onward, though not always upward.