Our California! Book Club Meeting

Join us as we read and discuss books that impact and reflect on the California experience – past, present and future – and how it informs the work of the state Legislature. We’ll delve into a broad range of topics about our state, such as our immigration stories, the history of our development and business patterns, and possibly water and transportation policy. And, of course, the people behind it all. 

The book we’re reading now is The Associates, Four Capitalists Who Created California, by Richard Rayne. One hundred forty years ago, four California men rose from their position as middle-class merchants to become the force behind the transcontinental railroad. In the course of doing so, they became wealthy beyond any measure—and to sustain their power, they lied, bribed, and, when necessary, arranged for obstacles, both human and legal, to disappear. Their names were Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins, and they were known as "The Big Four" or "The Associates." Their legacy is the railroad, a university (Stanford University), public gardens, museums, mansions, banks, and libraries. This is the story of their rise.

To sign up for the book club and attend our next meeting, go here.