A priest with Juan Batista de Anza's expedition in 1776 named a wild creek where the group camped after St. Joseph of Cupertino, Italy. A village known as Westside adopted the name in 1904 as it grew up by that stream, now Stevens Creek, near the road that is now De Anza Boulevard. Like its Italian namesake, Cupertino once had wineries, and vineyards striped its foothills and flatlands. Later vast orchards created an annual blizzard of spring blossoms, earning it the name Valley of Heart's Delight. The railroad came to carry those crops to market, and the electric trolley extended to connect Cupertino's first housing tract, Monte Vista. When the postwar building boom came, Cupertino preserved its independence through incorporation, but that bold move would not stop the wave of modernization that would soon roll over the valley.

Los Altos would never have existed if not for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Since the 1850s, Los Altos, Spanish for "heights" or "foothills," was the name generally applied to the two ranchos (San Antonio and La Purisima Concepcion) between Palo Alto and Mountain View southwest of El Camino Real. In 1906, visionaries Paul Shoup, who worked for the railroad, and Walter Clark, a Mountain View real estate developer, saw the potential to turn Sarah Winchester's ranch near Stanford University into an ideal San Francisco suburb. They would capitalize on new commuters-those who wanted to live in comfort in the country but work in the city. Slowly, a new town grew in influence well beyond its original Altos Land Company plat, realizing tremendous post-World War II expansion. Now two communities solidly embedded in Silicon Valley, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills share a school system, downtown shopping, libraries, and water system, as well as a history of interesting people.

A History of Wine in America is the definitive account of winemaking in the United States, first as it was carried out under Prohibition, and then as it developed and spread to all fifty states after the repeal of Prohibition. Engagingly written, exhaustively researched, and rich in detail, this book describes how Prohibition devastated the wine industry, the conditions of renewal after Repeal, the various New Deal measures that affected wine, and the early markets and methods. Thomas Pinney goes on to examine the effects of World War II and how the troubled postwar years led to the great wine boom of the late 1960s, the spread of winegrowing to almost every state, and its continued expansion to the present day. The history of wine in America is, in many ways, the history of America and of American enterprise in microcosm. Pinney's sweeping narrative comprises a lively cast of characters that includes politicians, bootleggers, entrepreneurs, growers, scientists, and visionaries. Pinney relates the development of winemaking in states such as New York and Ohio; its extension to Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, and other states; and its notable successes in California, Washington, and Oregon. He is the first to tell the complete and connected story of the rebirth of the wine industry in California, now one of the most successful winemaking regions in the world.

Composed of 100 bite-sized entries of 400 to 600 words each, Netymology weaves together stories, etymologies and analyses around digital culture's transformation and vocabulary. Chatfield presents a kaleidoscopic, thought-provoking tour through the buried roots of the symbols, speech, and mannerisms we have inherited from the digital age: from the @ and Apple symbols, to HTML and Trojan horses, to the twisted histories of new forms of slang, memes, text messages and gaming terms; how language itself is being shaped by technology, how it is changing us.

"Now in a one-volume revised edition, this encyclopedia of California historical information remains an ideally practical reference to the state."--From the dust-jacket front flap.

This book examines and documents the remarkable development and transformation of suburban form throughout the globe during the twentieth century. The premise that suburban areas are monotonous, inert environments is put to a test through investigation of the complexity of those suburban settings and the dynamic physical changes that have taken place since their inception.

For centuries, California's environment has nurtured remarkable people. Ohlone Lope Inigo found a way to protect his family in troubled times on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Pioneer Juana Briones made a fortune from her rancho yet took the time to care for those in need. Innovator Thomas Foon Chew discovered a climate for success, in spite of the obstacles. Around the region that became Silicon Valley, filmmaker Charlie Chaplin found inspiration, poet Robert Louis Stevenson uncovered adventure and Sarah Winchester built a house that would intrigue people long after she was gone. Author Robin Chapman shares fascinating tales of those who exemplify the enterprising spirit of the Golden State.

Award-winning journalist Frank Rose provides a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of a business and a technology in tormoil. The fall of Steve Jobs, the visionary entrepreneur who founded Apple Computer, is also the story of a freewheeling California youth culture on a collision course with corporate America.