The King of California

J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire

De: Mark Arax, Rick Wartzman

Narrado por: James Patrick Cronin

J. G. Boswell was the biggest farmer in America. He built a secret empire while thumbing his nose at nature, politicians, labor unions, and every journalist who ever tried to lift the veil on the ultimate "factory in the fields". The King of California is the previously untold account of how a Georgia slave-owning family migrated to California in the early 1920s, drained one of America 's biggest lakes in an act of incredible hubris and carved out the richest cotton empire in the world. Indeed, the sophistication of Boswell 's agricultural operation - from lab to field to gin - is unrivaled anywhere.

Much more than a business story, this is a sweeping social history that details the saga of cotton growers who were chased from the South by the boll weevil and brought their Black farmhands to California. It is a gripping read with cameos by a cast of famous characters, from Cecil B. DeMille to Cesar Chavez.

©2003 Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Underrated

A very well written piece of non-fiction. It’s a portrait of farming, California, and the U.S. that’s little known.

Amazing chronicle

Really good information, thoroughly researched. A very important story told without sympathy or judgment. Times were different then. I feel admiration and dismay in equal parts
for all that the Boswells achieved. Just a tiny quibble about the narration - mispronounciations of words like skied. And one of the authors is named Mark Arax and narrator called him Max.

Learn the truth

Can we trust the government to do what is right for all of us? Learn how it really works.

This history of my homeland was very interesting!

hearing a history of the small valley i call home was a real treat. well written and well read

Mark Arax is the King

Mark Arax books King of California and The Dreamt Land are astonishing books among the best I have ever read. Must read for anyone interested in California history or the history of agriculture.