The Hearsts: An American Dynasty

This was a MOST enjoyable 400-page read, an excellent primer on the genesis of the Hearst family whose fame and fortune began with the three Hearsts depicted, in depth, in the book: George (a miner), Phoebe Apperson (his much younger wife) and William Randolph ("The Boy"). I particularly enjoyed the effort made by the author, Judith Robinson, a UC Berkeley graduate, in illuminating just how much Phoebe Apperson Hearst helped the early, struggling and somewhat directionless beginnings of the University of California at Berkeley (a magnificent institution of higher learning situated on a magical tract of land at the foot of the Berkeley hills and a place where I attended a basketball game last night: Cal 81, USC 78 -and- a place to which I shall feel forever attached!) All in all Robinson has put together a highly readable and scholarly family history (published 1991). You will be surprised at what you DID NOT KNOW about the Hearsts, a distinguished and civic minded clan of the late 1800s which with its wealth and adventuresome nature propelled itself onward, toward and through the San Simeon days, and beyond, to the present day. Note: In this book the chronography STOPS just as the San Simeon days begin. However, also in this book one will still learn some fascinating details about how the San Simeon property was purchased and assembled. If you enjoy reading how California was stitched together to become what it has become, this book should be on your shelf (with, of course, hundreds of others).