The Browns of California

The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation

By: Miriam Pawel

Narrated by: Christina Delaine

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist's panoramic history of California and its impact on the nation, from the Gold Rush to Silicon Valley - told through the lens of the family dynasty that led the state for nearly a quarter century.

In The Browns of California, journalist and scholar Miriam Pawel weaves a narrative history that spans four generations, from August Schuckman, the Prussian immigrant who crossed the Plains in 1852 and settled on a northern California ranch, to his great-grandson Jerry Brown, who reclaimed the family homestead 140 years later. Through the prism of their lives, we gain an essential understanding of California and an appreciation of its importance.

This book gives new insights to those steeped in California history, offers a corrective for those who confuse stereotypes and legend for fact, and opens new vistas for listeners familiar with only the sketchiest outlines of a place habitually viewed from afar with a mix of envy and awe, disdain, and fascination.

©2018 Miriam Pawel (P)2019 Tantor

History through Biography

This book combines great history with great writing. I've lived in Northern California for many years. I thought its youngest governor, Jerry Brown, was smart and cute, and its oldest, Jerry Brown, a leader with integrity and vision. Good to know more about a politician like that, especially these last few years . It was interesting to learn about the bright women, hard-working immigrants, and spiritual revolutionaries who shaped his values. Bravo Miriam Pawel, the author, and Christina Delaine, the narrator.

really dry, bogged down with uninteresting detail

i had hoped it would explore more of the history of california during the quarter century that the Browns were governors. it did to some extent, but i came away from it unfulfilled. i consider that the oddest thing was that jerry brown was governor when i was in college and also when became eligible for medicare!
narration could have been a lot better.

Puff piece about a true villain

This was a puff piece written from the point of view of an elitist paternalistic establishment liberal. It’s not an honest portrayal of the Browns or of California politics or of politics in general.

Jerry Brown spent his political life pushing various oligarchic agendas with a smug vaneer of liberal hypocrisy. To blame him for turning California into what it is today would not be fair because I’m sure there were various people behind the scenes pulling his strings as is usually the case with these politicians. But you won’t get that story here.

I’d like to know more about his relationship with Jacques Barzaghi, the “macho” man he lived with and always had by his side for so many years, the personal demons that caused him to abandon his Catholic faith (assuming he was ever really sincere about his faith) and what his real relationship with his father was.

The narrator was annoying. Her pronunciation of the word “Latino” was cringe as was her attempt to pronounce non-Anglo last names in a foreign accent.