A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth is a new history of frontiers, slavery, Civil War, and the search for profit and destiny on the Pacific Coast.
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This first of its kind book tells how America’s global gateway – the busiest container port in the Western hemisphere – came to be out of mud and salt marsh. This is a tale of Mexican ranchers, imperialist politicians, US explorers, railroad speculators, and the prize they fought over – San Pedro Bay’s estuary.
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— MICHAEL HILTZIK, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist, Los Angeles Times Columnist
The Port of Los Angeles is all around us. Our daily objects pass through it or through supply chains for which it is the archetype. Items include apparel, cars, furniture, electronics, green technologies, medical supplies, plastics, animal feed, and more. Yet the story begins in the 1850s with imperial dreams and daring individuals.
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Photo credit: Jorge Villalba. RF, Getty Images