This volume of original essays by leading scholars is an innovative, thorough introduction to the history and culture of California from its inception to the present day. Written by both senior scholars and new voices in the field as well as non-academic subject specialists, the essays range widely across perspectives, including political, social, economic, and environmental history. The volumes unique structure pairs and groups essays that are similar in approach and conception so they work both as individual pieces and also as companions to each other throughout the text.Emerging out of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, a new research and teaching project associated with the Huntington Library and the University of Southern California, the Companion to California History is a valuable resource for students and researchers of the history of the Golden State.