Books by David Igler

This volume of original essays by leading scholars is an innovative, thorough introduction to the history and culture of California.

• Includes 30 essays by leading scholars in the field
• Essays range widely across perspectives, including political, social, economic, and environmental history
• Essays with similar approaches are paired and grouped to work as individual pieces and as companions to each other throughout the text
• Produced in association with the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West

The Pacific of the early eighteenth century was not a single ocean but a vast and varied waterscape, a place of baffling complexity, with 25,000 islands and seemingly endless continental shorelines. But with the voyages of Captain James Cook, global attention turned to the Pacific, and European and American dreams of scientific exploration, trade, and empire grew dramatically. By the time of the California gold rush, the Pacific's many shores were fully integrated into world markets-and world consciousness.

The Great Ocean draws on hundreds of documented voyages--some painstakingly recorded by participants, some only known by archeological remains or indigenous memory--as a window into the commercial, cultural, and ecological upheavals following Cook's exploits, focusing in particular on the eastern Pacific in the decades between the 1770s and the 1840s. Beginning with the expansion of trade as seen via the travels of William Shaler, captain of the American Brig Lelia Byrd, historian David Igler uncovers a world where voyagers, traders, hunters, and native peoples met one another in episodes often marked by violence and tragedy. Igler describes how indigenous communities struggled against introduced diseases that cut through the heart of their communities; how the ordeal of Russian Timofei Tarakanov typified the common practice of taking hostages and prisoners; how Mary Brewster witnessed first-hand the bloody "great hunt" that decimated otters, seals, and whales; how Adelbert von Chamisso scoured the region, carefully compiling his notes on natural history; and how James Dwight Dana rivaled Charles Darwin in his pursuit of knowledge on a global scale.

These stories--and the historical themes that tie them together--offer a fresh perspective on the oceanic worlds of the eastern Pacific. Ambitious and broadly conceived, The Great Ocean is the first book to weave together American, oceanic, and world history in a path-breaking portrait of the Pacific world.

This three-volume set includes A Companion to the American West, A Companion to California History, and A Companion to Los Angeles.

A Companion to the American West is a rigorous, illuminating introduction to the history of the American West. Twenty-five essays by expert scholars synthesize the best and most provocative work in the field. Combining a comprehensive overview with historiography, the Companion covers such topics as industrialism, women, Native Americans, exploration, religion, politics, and art. The essays are lively, well written, and suited to the student, scholar, and all interested readers of the history of the American West.

A Companion to California History is an innovative, thorough introduction to the history and culture of California. Written by both senior scholars and new voices in the field, the essays range widely across perspectives, including political, social, economic, and environmental history. The volume’s unique structure pairs and groups essays that are similar in approach and conception so they work both as individual pieces and also as companions to each other throughout the text.

A Companion to Los Angeles is a unique study of America’s second largest city, and the first Companion devoted to a single metropolis. The volume consists of 25 essays, each an original contribution by a writer or scholar, which collectively assess the best and most important work to date on the complex history of Los Angeles. Instead of organizing the essays around discrete, time-specific events, the editors focus on critical themes and broad multi-disciplinary topics which span different periods and generations, including demography, social unrest, politics, popular culture, architecture, and urban studies. Together, the contributions constitute a lively and informed introduction to a history as fascinating as it is complex.

The Human Tradition in California captures the region's rich history and diversity, taking readers into the daily lives of ordinary Californians at key moments in time. These brief biographies show how individual people and communities have influenced the broad social, cultural, political and economic forces that have shaped California history from the pre-mission period through the late-twentieth century. In personalizing California's history, this engaging new book brings the Golden State to life.