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• Choose Your Weapon

  $16.95 $10.17 0 review(s)

  
  

  Choose Your Weapon: The Duel in California, 1847–1861 describes in graphic detail the major figures, causes, and means by which the Golden State’s 75 “affairs of honor” of that timeframe were fought. The number of shootouts between these “gentleman” was greater than that of any other state during those years. Because so many duels were fought over politics, the book reveals much about the major politicians and newspaper editors of that era. In addition, there is a great deal of irony. For example, in 1850 Assemblyman George Penn Johnston crafted a bill that provided severe penalties for anyone convicted of dueling. Still, it remained impossible to empanel a jury that would convict a duelist. Eight years later this same legislator sent a challenge to a member of the State Senate, and, in the shootout that followed, killed him. Though found not guilty, he was the first duelist to be tried under the very statute he had written. New evidence also reveals there was far more paradox than previously imagined regarding the infamous duel between U.S. Senator David C. Broderick and State Supreme Court Justice David Terry. One of the most grueling duels ever to take place on the frontier was the 1853 faceoff between U.S. SenatorWilliam Gwin and Congressman Joseph W. McCorckle. Fought in the hills above bucolic San Mateo with 54 caliber Mississippi Yagers at forty paces, by dint of several miracles neither was killed. In summary, Choose Your Weapon provides readers with an invaluable historical primer on California’s Golden Era, as well as the tumultuous temperament of its pioneer politicians and newspaper editors. Audience: California history readers. About the Author: Christopher Burchfield has been researching and writing about the Gold Rush Era of California for more than thirty years. Over this period he and his wife, Genendal, have traveled up and down the state, scouring its libraries and history centers, from Barstow to Yreka, often camping out under some very inclement weather conditions. He has had over 100 articles published in various magazines. $16.95 ($21.95 Canada) • Trade Paperback • 6" x 9" • 260 pages ISBN 978-1-61035-277-2

• CALIFORNIA DAY OF THE GRIZZLY

  $25.00 $15.00 0 review(s)

  
  

  In 1769, some 10,000 grizzlies roamed California. One hundred years later, these magnificent beasts faced extinction. Today they are long gone. In The Day of the Grizzly, prominent California historian William Secrest, Sr. (California Desperadoes, When the Great Spirit Died) tells the fascinating story of the most ferocious animal in the West and how it met it’s demise at the hand of man. Grizzlies were slaughtered out of fear, used for meat, and even forced to fight with bulls for the sheer sport of it. Day of the Grizzly includes the story of the life of greatest bear man of them all—Grizzly Adams! As with all of Secrest’s books this one is lavishly illustrated with contemporary photographs and engravings. Some never published before.

• THE VALLEYS LEGENDS & LEGACIES, VOL IV

  $18.95 $11.37 0 review(s)

  
  

  Volume IV: Stories include Clovis, Madera, Sanger, Academy, Hanford, Fresno, Grangeville, Centerville, Fowler, Dos Palos

• California's Deadliest Women

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  Dangerous Dames and Murderous Moms by David Kulczyk Illustrations by Olaf Jens Publication Date: September 2016 According to all the sexist clichés, women are nurturers, not murderers. But women do kill … and when they do, the results are devastating. A masterpiece of pure trashy tabloid fun, California’s Deadliest Women is the definitive guide to the murderesses of the Golden State, a horrifying compendium of women driven to kill by jealousy, greed, desperation, or their own inner demons. California’s Deadliest Women presents 28 mini-tragedies — sardonic, tightly written profiles of some of the most ghastly crimes ever committed in California. Each lethal vignette presents a murderer’s early life, thecircumstances that drove her to murder, her detection, her punishment, and the aftermath of her terrible deeds, plus quirky, disturbing caricatures of the killers by artist Olaf Jens. The murderers in California’s Deadliest Women aren’t passive instruments of male masterminds, like the women of the Manson Family. These are women who got their hands bloody, personally killing their victims, who often were their own husbands, lovers or children. From Brynn Hartman, who killed her husband, comedian Phil Hartman, to chemist Larissa Shuster, who dissolved her husband in acid, to dominatirix Omaima Aree Nelson, who cooked and ate her husband, the killers profiled in California’s Deadliest Women show that the fairer sex can be as evil — and as deadly — as any man. The stories in California’s Deadliest Women are shocking and lurid, but also filled with compassion for victim and murderer alike. There are no heroes in this book and no happy endings. The crimes are so bizarre, so puzzling, so corrupt, so disgusting, so gory, so inhumane and so despicable that they are unforgettable … and perversely fascinating and entertaining. Audience: True crime readers, California history readers, and lovers of the bizarre. About the Author: David Kulczyk (pronounced Coal-check) is a Sacramento-based crime historian. His previous books include California Justice (2008), Death in California (2009) and California Fruits, Flakes and Nuts (2013), all available from Craven Street Books. $14.95 ($18.95 Canada) • Trade Paperback • 6" x 9" • 140 pages ISBN 978-1-61035-280-2

• MURDER IN THE GARDEN

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  As countless thousands poured into the fertile San Joaquin Valley of California in the decades following the Civil War, some brought visions of man's darker side to this new Eden. Murder in the Garden is the absorbing examination of fifteen notorious crimes from the not-too-distant past of Fresno, California.

• An Artist and a Writer Travel Highway 1 South

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  The best loved and most spectacular drive in California is documented in a beautifully illustrated artistic and literary journey. A fantastic drive comes to a stunning conclusion in An Artist and a Writer Travel Highway 1 South.