United States
£ GBP
Big Sur embodies much of what has defined California since the mid twentieth century. A remote, inaccessible, and undeveloped pastoral landscape until 1937, Big Sur quickly became a cultural symbol of California and the West, as well as a home to the ultra-wealthy. This transformation was due in part to writers and artists such as Robinson Jeffers and Ansel Adams, who created an enduring mystique for this coastline. But Big Sur's prized coastline is also the product of the pioneering efforts of residents and Monterey County officials who forged a collaborative public/private preservation model for Big Sur that foreshadowed the shape of California coastal preservation in the twenty-first century. Big Sur's well-preserved vistas and high-end real estate situate this coastline between American ideals of development and the wild. It is a space that challenges the way most Americans think of nature, its relationship to people, and what in fact makes a place "wild". Big Sur: The Making of a Prized California Landscape highlights today's complex and ambiguous intersections of class, the environment, and economic development through the lens of an iconic California landscape.
Shelley Alden Brooks teaches Twentieth-Century U.S., California, and Environmental History at the University of California, Davis. She also works for the California History-Social Science Project and serves on the statewide Environmental Literacy Steering Committee.
"We think we know Big Sur because of its iconic role as a California place and muse. Enduring and fragile all at once, Big Sur is even more complex and historically fascinating than a beautiful photograph or poem can adequately assess. It needs a first-rate history book to do it justice, and Shelley Alden Brooks has answered that need."
– William Deverell, author of Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past
"An elegantly written, nuanced, and subtle history of how Big Sur has come to be. Shrewd politics, dedicated vision, and good timing led to this treasured landscape's preservation. A wonderful read, full of important insights. This book is a valuable contribution to California's environmental history."
– Stephanie Pincetl, author of Transforming California: A Political History of Land Use and Development
"With Big Sur, Brooks has made an outstanding contribution to the historical literature on California, the environment, and American counterculture. It is essential reading for students of these subjects and for anyone who has ever been moved by this special place."
– Peter S. Alagona, author of After the Grizzly: Endangered Species and the Politics of Place in California
