New Book Releases

Pleasanton is known today as the "City of Planned Progress," home to tech companies, grand houses and the Alameda County Fairgrounds. A century and a half ago, however, it was little more than an idea--a real estate project in the Bay Area backwater conceived to profit from the railroad's advance through the Amador-Livermore Valley. Discover Pleasanton's evolution from open range to a thriving modern city. From the Ohlone encounter with the Spanish to the city's formal incorporation and beyond, author Ken MacLennan and the Museum on Main offer up an incisive and detailed look at Pleasanton's history.

Designated a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2015, Wintersburg Village's unique history is representative of the Japanese pioneer experience on the West Coast. Japan's post-Meiji period ended the feudal system, creating in the late 1800s social changes that prompted Japanese immigration to America. Many who settled in the Wintersburg countryside were of samurai ancestry, bringing an enterprising spirit to Orange County's businesses and farms. The village's history encompasses early aviation, archaeological discoveries, the county's oldest Japanese church, goldfish farming and overcoming discrimination to achieve civil liberties. Forcibly evacuated and confined during World War II, Japanese pioneers left an indelible mark on Southern California. Absorbed by the City of Huntington Beach, Wintersburg remains mostly a memory. Join historian Mary F. Adams Urashima as she resurrects a vanishing chapter of Orange County.

Dublin used to be just a small village on a major route to San Francisco. For much of its history, Dublin attributed its recognition to treacherous roads notorious for grisly stagecoach accidents and, later, near-fatal car crashes. Change came during World War II, when the community hosted one of the country's largest U.S. Navy installations. Rapid suburban development followed in the 1960s, attracting people looking to live in the thriving Bay Area. It also served as home to a U.S. Air Force base, a Cold War testing ground, a U.S. Army base and one of the greatest St. Patrick's Day celebrations on the West Coast. Author Steven Minniear shares the story of one of California's fastest-growing cities.

Situated between Los Feliz and Echo Park a few miles from downtown Los Angeles, Silver Lake thrives as a perennially avant-garde and enchanting enclave. From mansion builders and movie stars to bohemians, visionaries and just plain folk, discover Silver Lake's illustrious past and a fantastic cast of characters sure to enrich contemporary experience and inform the past. Colorful anecdotes about early movie magnates William Selig and Mack Sennett and silent-screen idols Mabel Normand, Antonio Moreno and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle flesh out these famous figures' lives in new and surprising ways. Other lesser-known but richly deserving stories about the area's pioneer families are shared perhaps for the first time. Authors Michael Locke and Vincent Brook present a rich tapestry of this unique urban oasis whose appeal seems only to grow.