Free Download Thom Reilly, "The Failure of Governance in Bell, California: Big-Time Corruption in a Small Town"
English | 2016 | pages: 228 | ISBN: 1498512127, 1498512143 | EPUB | 50,6 mb
"How could this have happened?" The question still lingers among officials and residents of the small southern California town of Bell. Corruption is hardly an isolated challenge to the governance of America's cities. But following decades of benign obscurity, Bell witnessed the emergence of a truly astonishing level of public wrongdoing-a level succinctly described by Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley as "corruption on steroids."

Free Download Lincoln and California: The President, the War, and the Golden State
by Brian McGinty
English | 2023 | ISBN: 1640126066 | 296 Pages | True ePUB | 3.46 MB

Free Download Stephen Brook, Hugh Johnson, "The Finest Wines of California: A Regional Guide to the Best Producers and Their Wines"
English | 2011 | pages: 321 | ISBN: 0520266587 | PDF | 11,3 mb
Unconstrained by tradition or viticultural regulation, California winemakers enjoy a freedom that has resulted in a remarkable range of world-class wines. Beautifully illustrated with original photographs and detailed color maps, this guide introduces California wine by exploring the best that the state has to offer ―from lush Sonoma Chardonnay to spicy Santa Barbara Syrah to heady Amador Zinfandel. At the heart of the book, award-winning wine writer Stephen Brook offers 90 intimate profiles of top producers―from Napa and Sonoma to the North and Central coasts, the Sierra foothills, and beyond. Brook also includes general information on California wine history, wine culture, grape varieties, and more. Throughout, he searches for the characteristics that make California wine distinctive despite its tremendous diversity―and finds the answer in the state's unusual climate, especially the shifting interplay between fog and sun, as well as a lively and constant questioning of received ideas about viticulture, vine age, terroir, and winemaking techniques, all of which have helped winemakers to create complexity,individuality, and nuance in their wines.

Free Download Neil J. Smelser, "Reflections on the University of California: From the Free Speech Movement to the Global University"
English | 2010 | pages: 392 | ISBN: 0520260961 | EPUB | 1,6 mb
These invaluable essays offer an insider's perspective on three decades at a major American university during a time of political turmoil. Neil J. Smelser, who spent thirty-six years as a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, sheds new light on a full range of the issues that dominated virtually all institutions of higher learning during the second half of the twentieth century. Smelser considers student activism―in particular the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley―political surprises, affirmative action, multiculturalism and the culture wars, and much more. As one of the leading sociologists of his generation, Smelser is uniquely qualified to convey and analyze the complexities of administrating a first-rate and very large university as it encounters a highly politicized environment.

Free Download J. Theodore Anagnoson, "Governing California in the Twenty-First Century"
English | ISBN: 039367536X | 2019 | 308 pages | PDF | 8 MB
The most current look at California politics, complete with an award-winning adaptive learning tool

Free Download Ronald A. Russo, "Field Guide to Plant Galls of California and Other Western States"
English | 2007 | pages: 400 | ISBN: 0520248864, 0520248856 | PDF | 10,0 mb
Oak apples, honeydew and ambrosia galls, witches' brooms, and fasciations-all are types of plant galls, a commonly observed, yet little-understood botanical phenomenon. Often beautiful and bizarre, galls are growths of various shapes, sizes, and colors produced by host plants in response to invading organisms. This guide, a trove of natural history lore, explores this hidden realm, taking a fascinating look at the world of plant galls, the organisms that initiate them, their host plants, and their intricate behaviors. Focusing on native trees and shrubs, but also discussing several galls that occur on herbaceous and ornamental plants, it illuminates the complex interrelationship between botany and entomology and magnifies our awareness of plant communities in the West.

Free Download Hans J. Peeters, "Field Guide to Owls of California and the West"
English | 2007 | pages: 392 | ISBN: 0520252802, 0520247418 | PDF | 17,1 mb
Most owls are almost perfectly adapted to life in the dark. Their vaguely humanoid faces reflect the spectacular evolution of their hearing and vision, which has made flight, romance, and predation possible in the near absence of light. This accessible guide, full of intriguing anecdotes, covers all 19 species of owls occurring in North America. More than an identification guide, Field Guide to Owls of California and the West describes the biology and behavior of owls to make finding and identifying them easier and watching them more enjoyable. The guide also explores the conservation challenges that owls face and tells how owls provide insights to scientists working in fields from technology to health.

Free Download Jonathan Bell, "California Crucible: The Forging of Modern American Liberalism "
English | ISBN: 0812243870 | 2012 | 352 pages | EPUB | 824 KB
In the three decades following World War II, the Golden State was not only the fastest-growing state in the Union but also the site of significant political change. From the late 1940s through the mid-1970s, a generation of liberal activists transformed the political landscape of California, ending Republican dominance of state politics and eventually setting the tone for the Democratic Party nationwide.

Free Download California Bear: A Novel by Duane Swierczynski
English | January 9, 2024 | ISBN: 0316382973 | True EPUB | 368 pages | 2.3 MB
This "fresh, exciting, and brilliantly unpredictable" thriller (James Patterson) from a "great storyteller" (Michael Connelly) follows four unlikely vigilantes who pit themselves against the villain behind California's coldest case when they decide to take justice into their own hands.

Free Download Allan A. Schoenherr, "A Natural History of California: Second Edition"
English | 2017 | pages: 632 | ISBN: 0520290372, 0520295110 | EPUB | 98,1 mb
In this comprehensive and abundantly illustrated book, Allan A. Schoenherr describes the natural history of California-a state with a greater range of landforms, a greater variety of habitats, and more kinds of plants and animals than any area of equivalent size in all of North America. A Natural History of California focuses on each distinctive region,addressing its climate, rocks, soil, plants, and animals.