California Conquered: The Annexation of a Mexican Province, 1846-1850 Paperback - 1989

First line

IMAGINE you have never had a Correspondent from the 'Far West,'"Thomas O. Larkin wrote from Monterey in February 1843, initiating a correspondence with James G. Bennett of the New York Herald.

From the rear cover

"A truly superb book which organizes, reveals the illustrates the beginnings of the this state. . . . California history has been clarified and enriched." --J.S. Holliday, San Francisco Chronicle "Harlow supersedes everyone else who has written about the invasion and occupation [of California] by the US because he summarizes the literature of the field, treats the story in great detail, keeps the narrative straights, and deftly weaves a large number of quotations into the text to allow the characters to speak for themselves. The book is, therefore, a mine of information about the end of the Mexican and the beginning of the American era."--Choice "A definitive account of the addition of California, from the earliest antecedents for conquest to the establishment of the first state government. Broad in scope, yet intimate in detail, this work tells of the activities not only of American military leaders, but also of Mexican and California officials."--W. Edwin Derrick, Library Journal "[Harlow] has assembled and marshaled the rich but scattered original documents. He has mastered the literature. His lucid narrative carries buoyantly through the dramatics and the impasses. . . .This spritely book does justice to this crucial subject."--John Caughey, Los Angeles Times