Spreading the Word: A History of Information in the California Gold Rush |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > California History > Item 327
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Spreading the Word: A History of Information in the California Gold Rush
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by Richard T. Stillson
Sales Rank: 2893664
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List Price: $24.95
$24.95
At Amazon
on 8-1-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 284 pages
Published by: University of Nebraska Press May 1, 2008
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0803218273
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0803218277
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
Weighs: 15.7 ounces
Product Review
Meghan Saar True West : SPREADING THE WORD RICHARD T. STILLSON, University of Nebraska PRESS, $55, HARDCOVER; 800-755-1105. This unique analysis of information providers and users during the California Gold Rush is a smart read. Much of what Stillson discusses relates to concerns of the media in the present day, especially in terms of prospectors trying to determine if the established media is credible or if they should be relying on "local" reports, referred to today as citizen journalism. Stillson's book also includes useful appendixes to back up his intelligent, well-thought-out arguments. This book is a boon to the study of communications culture.
True West : "This unique analysis of information providers and users during the California Gold Rush is a smart read. Much of what Stillson discusses relates to concerns of the media in the present day, especially in terms of prospectors trying to determine if the established media is credible or if they should be relying on `local' reports, referred to today as citizen journalism. Stillson's book also includes useful appendixes to back up his intelligent, well-thought-out arguments. This book is a boon to the study of communications culture."-Meghan Saar, True West
Kevin Starr : "Very valuable . . . the highest possible level of research, scholarly analysis, and . . . vivid and effective writing. Spreading the Word is a pioneering discussion of communications culture in the mid-nineteenth century."-Kevin Starr, Professor of History at the University of Southern California and author of California: A History and Coast of Dreams
Robert Phelps : "This is truly an important addition to the scholarship of the California Gold Rush. Unlike other accounts, Richard Stillson looks at the Gold Rush from the beginning, analyzing the information systems utilized by the 49ers to make decisions as they moved west. Spreading the Word is a case study of information and communications mechanisms in the United States during the mid-nineteenth century, and as such is a new and vital contribution in American social, cultural, and even technological history."-Robert Phelps, Associate Professor of History, California State University, East Bay
European Journal of Communication : "Richard Stillson has opened up a new vein in the historical excavation of the California gold rush. . . . Spreading the Word marshals its evidence with skill and provides a well-crafted account that contributes both to North American social history and to our historical understanding of changing forms of information and communication. It is equally valuable on both counts."-European Journal of Communication
Product Description
Spreading the Word looks at the ways in which easterners who traveled West during the California gold rush of 1849–51 obtained, assessed, and used information. At the beginning of the gold rush the scarcity of information about westward travel posed serious problems for potential gold seekers in the East. Though most knew the trip was dangerous and that proper preparation could mean the difference between life and death, few had any practical knowledge of the vast deserts and mountains of the West or, for that matter, of how to mine gold. Information was produced quickly as newspapers, publishers, and businessmen hastened to cash in on gold fever, but much of it was unreliable, contradictory, and changed frequently. Richard T. Stillson follows several gold rush companies across the country, gleaning from their letters and diaries a sense of how they obtained information and evaluated its constantly changing sources, how they attempted to learn where gold was, and what they wrote home, thus providing information to the next wave of gold seekers. As the companies gained experience, they reassessed knowledge and developed new modes of determining the credibility of new information. By providing a historical context for assessing information and by viewing communication strategies as a core element of the gold rush itself, Stillson reveals a connection between media, myth, and reality in the formative years of the nation’s most volatile region. (02/16/2007)
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Spreading the Word: A History of Information in the California Gold Rush
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Price: $24.95
Updated on 8-1-2008.
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