About this title: A rich, colorful history of California centering on the untold story of America 's biggest farmer, J. G. Boswell, who controls more than $1 billion worth of water rights and real estate in the heart of the state. J. G. Boswell is the biggest farmer in America. Over the past fifty years he has built a secret empire while thumbing his nose at nature ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: Sixth Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Public Affairs
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781586480288ISBN:1586480286
Description: Very Good in Good + jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" Signed by Author Mild edgewear, small bump & wear at base of spne. dustjacket with mild edge & corner wear, lightly soiled. Signed on half-title page "For Louis-MarkArax May 2004"Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, 558 pp. Text clean & tight. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781586480288ISBN:1586480286
Description: Grade: C. Catalog: Non-Fiction Biography Synopsis: 534 pages. When Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman set out to write the story of James Griffin Boswell II and his hold on the geographical heart of Californi... read more
Edition: First Edition; Sixth Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Public Affairs, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781586480288ISBN:1586480286
Description: As New in Near Fine dust jacket. 1586480286. 2003 sixth printing hardcover and dust jacket. Book is and and unread. Dust jacket has slight shelfwear at bottom back edge. Mylar cover. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Date Published: 2003-10
ISBN-13:9781586480288ISBN:1586480286
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Description: Reader copy. Cover has minor wear, back few pages have a light stain dosnt affect reading, back cover has a stain as well, pages are clean and easy to read, ships next day. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781586482817ISBN:1586482815
Description: Good. Books have varying amounts of wear and highlighting. Usually ships within 24 hours in quality packaging. Satisfaction guaranteed. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Public Affairs, New York
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781586480288ISBN:1586480286
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Remainder. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 558 pages. The story of J. G. Boswell who owned and controlled vast acreage in California and extended his domain to creating Sun City retirement community in Arizona. read more
"I just couldn't get into this book. He kept writing bunch of disparate story threads, probably with the intention of weaving them all together at some point to paint a great picture, but I never made it to that point. Someone got murdered and I stuck around for a few more pages, and then I put it down. In the 67 pages that I read, he alludes to this great cotton/water empire that screws Californians-- that's interesting."
"Parts of this book - the chapter on the Okies, for example - are beautifully written and full of fascinating characters. As a whole, though, it doesn't hang together all that well, partly because it's about so much more than just J.G. Boswell (and his ancestors), and because the significance of Boswell himself isn't ever quite nailed down. But, it's a great introduction to the ecology and history of California's Central Valley. It also very helpfully puts some works by Carey McWilliams and John Steinbeck in a current historical context. Perhaps most memorably, it's a portrait of a place - the huge, vanished/extinguished Tulare Lake."
"An excellent book by both Arax and Wartzman. A fascinating story of the development of the San Jaquin Valley and how ranch by ranch, acre by acre, J.G. Boswell swallowed up literal square miles of land. It has all the intrigues that go along with business men of that stature, all the political undertones that keep huge agricultural machines going, but it also has some of the best science developed for everything you could possibly squeeze out of what is grown."
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