From Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Hiltzik, a definitive new history of California--from the Spanish conquistadors to the Gold Rush to the state's meteoric rise as a tech powerhouse and bulwark of progressivism--and of its indelible mark on the United States and the world. California has long reigned as the land of plenty, a place where the sun always shines and opportunity beckons. Even prior to its statehood in 1850, it...