Imperial San Francisco
Urban Power, Earthly Ruin

Worth it for Bay Area residents to get to know the darker side of the growth of The City. Brechin gets to the roots of imperialism's influence on San Francisco: mining, water, nuclear. The book shows interplay and history of these industries in Berkeley, San Francisco, and the peninsula and how tita......more

Excellent left-wing analysis of urban growth. Should be interesting for urban planners, Bay Area residents, and people interested in real estate. I found it eye-opening how a beautiful place like San Francisco was/is so closely associated with things that I generally don't want to think about: nucle......more

For those of you who think SF is that shining city by the Bay filled with liberal hipsters, think again. Grey Brechen brings this vastly wealthy metropolis' dark side out for all to witness. Simply put, Imperial San Francisco is my favorite book on California (sorry Mike Davis). Its Dick Walker meet......more

This book is pretty great. True to the title, it explores how the ruling-class has squeezed every little bit of resources from the Bay, starting on the first day. ISF is unique in the depiction of the costs of the environment. However, very little space (if any) is given to social movements of worki......more

A little florid in its prose sometimes but pretty solid work. Using mining as a lense for the history of the bay area really unlocks the "past is prologue" understanding of the power and political landscape that today's Silicon Valley set only inherited, not created.......more