Publisher Description
A riveting portrait of the Gold Rush, by the award-winning author of Down the Great Unknown and The Forger’s Spell.
In the spring of 1848, rumors began to spread that gold had been discovered in a remote spot in the Sacramento Valley. A year later, newspaper headlines declared “Gold Fever!” as hundreds of thousands of men and women borrowed money, quit their jobs, and allowed themselves- for the first time ever-to imagine a future of ease and splendor. In The Rush, Edward Dolnick brilliantly recounts their treacherous westward journeys by wagon and on foot, and takes us to the frenzied gold fields and the rowdy cities that sprang from nothing to jam-packed chaos. With an enthralling cast of characters and scenes of unimaginable wealth and desperate ruin, The Rush is a fascinating-and rollicking-account of the greatest treasure hunt the world has ever seen.
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“There’s something tantalizing in Bernard Setaro Clark’s narration,
which contrasts the poverty and stillness of everyday life around 1849 with the
rush to claim California’s potential riches. The author provides much to digest—from
mining techniques to Karl Marx’s reaction to the gold discovery—and
first-person anecdotes make the story come alive. The gentle last words on a
grave marker, the determination of a starving traveler, and the dazzle of gold
will touch listeners. The approach is personal but not sensational—descriptions
of boom-town violence are low-key. With the author continually reminding
listeners of the more recent Internet boom, this is a timeless and timely
story.”—
AudioFile
