{"product_id":"spreading-the-word-a-history-of-information-in-the-california-gold-rush-paperback-softback-9780803218277","title":"Spreading the Word; A History of Information in the California Gold Rush (Paperback \/ softback) 9780803218277","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eSpreading the Word\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eA History of Information in the California Gold Rush\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eRichard T. Stillson (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780803218277\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 1 May 2008\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e284 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.442 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"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 \u003ci\u003eCalifornia: A History and Coast of Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\"This is truly an important addition to the scholarship of the California Gold Rush. Unlike other accounts, Richard Stillson examines the Gold Rush from the beginning, analyzing the information systems utilized by the 49ers to make decisions as they moved west. \u003ci\u003eSpreading the Word\u003c\/i\u003e 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\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"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, \u003ci\u003eTrue West\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"Richard Stillson has opened up a new vein in the historical excavation of the California gold rush. . . . \u003ci\u003eSpreading the Word\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\"—\u003ci\u003eEuropean Journal of Communication\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eSpreading the Word\u003c\/i\u003e is an interesting and important study for the gold rush, California, and media historians. It is a significant fresh look at what many may consider an over examined subject. Stillson's research and methods are notable; his conclusions valid and logical. Most important are his contributions in showing how communication and technology, with its connection of media, myth, and reality, impacted society during the hazardous and exciting Gold Rush Era.\"—John D. Barton, \u003ci\u003eUtah Historical\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eQuarterly\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"[Stillson] provides a fascinating study that opens a new field for investigation and analysis in the history of both the American West and information dissemination. . . . Stillson provides an appreciation, not only of the difficulties of obtaining and using information by the goldrushers but also of the challenges of reconstructing the experience.\"—William E. Huntzicker, \u003ci\u003eJournalism History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"Stillson undertook a difficult task to transform knowledge into a 'commodity' and then measure it. He promised a new perspective on the gold rush and provides it.\"—Robert J. Chandler,\u003ci\u003e Journal of American History\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\"Scholars of the California gold rush, overland emigration, and communications history will find \u003ci\u003eSpreading the Word \u003c\/i\u003ean informative read. Stillson has found a new way of looking at the gold rush by focusing on 'how Americans from the East who went overland . . . obtained, assessed, and used information.' . . . . \u003ci\u003eSpreading the Word\u003c\/i\u003e is a pioneering work and an invitation to explore other facets of gold rush information history.\"—Benjamin Madley, \u003ci\u003eWestern Historical Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\"Stillson does an especially impressive job of tracking particular companies of migrants and narrating their movements through the lens of the maps they consulted, the news they consumed, and the experts they encountered. The bibliography is eminently useful, the illustrations are striking, and the volume of materials Stillson has analyzed underscores the importance (if not the authority) of writing and print in the experience of gold seekers, who formed, as the author notes, a distinctively literature large-scale migration.\"—David M. Henkin, \u003ci\u003eAmerican Historical Review \u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"[\u003ci\u003eSpreading the Word\u003c\/i\u003e] provides valuable insight regarding the spread of information and how individuals analyze and use information from various sources.\"—Patricia A. Etter, \u003ci\u003eJournal of Arizona History\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eSpreading the Word\u003c\/i\u003e examines 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.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eInformation 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.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eBy 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.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52545942126872,"sku":"9780803218277","price":18.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/spreading-the-word-a-history-of-information-in-the-california-gold-rush-paperback-softback-9780803218277","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}