It Came from Berkeley

By Dave Weinstein

Book Overview

Why is Berkeley famous worldwide? Because of its inventiveness, its liberal attitudes, and its artists and writers. Did you know that public radio, California cuisine, the lie detector, the atomic... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1423602544
• ISBN13: 9781423602545
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith Publishers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 2.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.2" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A fun tour of this historic town

This book handily covers a lot of the history of Berkeley. There's plenty of surprises (e.g., the Jacuzzi family invented the hot tub here in 1915, & the first street curb cut to facilitate wheel chair accessibility was put in on Center & Shattuck in 1972). It's certainly a surprise to read that Berkeley was a heavily Republican town until after Eisenhower left office. Each chapter covers a slice of history. The only significant flaw with this book was the decision to title the chapters in a formula that generated some real klunkers: "How Berkeley Women Grew Uppity" is probably the worst chosen (about anti-pornography demonstrations in the 80s), but "How Berkeley Got Good Taste" is more typical and in its own way, annoying. I've also read Wollenberg's recent history of Berkeley, and I would rate this book as much pithier and generally more entertaining.