Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
California Gold Rush: A guide to California in the 1850’s
Nonfiction
For ages 10 and up
Kingfisher, 1999 ISBN: 978-0753452189
Lets us travel back to 1850’s California. It is a time of great change and there is so much to do and see that you would be well advised to take a guide of some sort with you, just as you would do if you went to visit London, Paris or Rome. This is the guide that you should use, as it is complete and full of valuable and interesting information.
These days California is inundated with thousands of people seeking gold. If you are one of these people you will find plenty of information in this handy guide to help you avoid some of the pitfalls that many prospectors before you have fallen into. If you are just a tourist you will find yourself entertained and enlightened by the volume.
Within these pages you will find a description of California; its history, natural beauties, and the sites worth visiting. You will also find practical information such as what can kind of health care is available in the area, what accommodations, and what kind of food is to be had. For example it is best to be aware well in advance that food is expensive in San Francisco on account of the demand. A pound of potatoes that you would pay one cent for in New York will cost you a whole dollar here!
Written in the present tense this "guide book" will take you back in time to a California that was packed with gold hungry men and women. In its pages you will be able to read about the hardships faced by the forty-niners and their families and get a sense of what you might had seen and experienced had you been there. With tongue-in-cheek humour, lots of illustrations and annotations, and tips and suggestions, the author brings history alive and shows us that history is not a dusty and dull discipline at all.
