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An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873Winner of the 2016 Los Angeles Times Book Award for History New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "Gruesomely thorough. . . . Others have described some of these campaigns, but never in such strong terms and with so much blame placed directly on the United States government." Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek Between 1846 and 1873, California's Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Benjamin Madley is the first historian to uncover
Winner of the 2016 Los Angeles Times Book Award for History New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "Gruesomely thorough. . . . Others have described some of these campaigns, but never in such strong terms and with so much blame placed directly on the United States government."--Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek Between 1846 and 1873, California's Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Benjamin Madley is the first historian to uncover the full extent of the slaughter, the involvement of state and federal officials, the taxpayer dollars that supported the violence, indigenous resistance, who did the killing, and why the killings ended. This deeply researched book is a comprehensive and chilling history of an American genocide. Madley describes pre-contact California and precursors to the genocide before explaining how the Gold Rush stirred vigilante violence against California Indians. He narrates the rise of a state-sanctioned killing machine and the broad societal, judicial, and political support for genocide. Many participated: vigilantes, volunteer state militiamen, U.S. Army soldiers, U.S. congressmen, California governors, and others. The state and federal governments spent at least $1,700,000 on campaigns against California Indians. Besides evaluating government officials' culpability, Madley considers why the slaughter constituted genocide and how other possible genocides within and beyond the Americas might be investigated using the methods presented in this groundbreaking book.Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 06/27/2017
ISBN: 9780300230697
Pages: 520
Weight: 1.42lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.40d
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4.8 ★★★★★
Based on 30 reviews
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 4
sweet tale of a child of immigrant parents figuring out her own truth
Format: Kindle
1950's San Francisco Chinatown is complicated enough for second generation Chinese teenagers, what with racism whenever they leave their safe neighborhoods, the Nationalists vs Communists entangling families in politics, and the ever present Red Scare excusing blatant police and enforcement inequities.
Imagine falling in love with a white person of your own gender at that time.
Lily is fascinated by the ad for a male impersonator at a local club. When she realizes the only other girl in her advanced math class also likes that ad, she begins sneaking out of her house and her "good Chinese daughter" persona to hang out in a club where terms like "butch" and "dyke" show her another world where women like her live and love.
Lily is naive, and loving, and just wants to do the right thing, but she'll have to face the constant choice of living true to herself or telling lies to appease her family.
The romance in this is understated and reserved, and its far more a historical exploration of 1950's Chinatown culture and the most interesting (to me ) intersection of cultures where the second generation children of immigrant parents must negotiate their identities within conflicting expectations. Lily is part of a large extended family that includes close knit families of Chinatown and her actions have repercussions on many people-- including her non-citizen father.
I didn't personally care for the sudden changes in POV to Lily's mother and Aunt...they added little to the tale I thought and their voices were too similar to Lily's to be interesting to me. I found myself skimming those bits to get back to Lily. The addition of timelines with historical and Lily's family events were interesting, but also confusing as the flashbacks jumped back and forth.
Very historically interesting, sweet, tale that keeps you anxious for Lily's welfare but never goes down a truly dark path.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2021
★★★★★ 5
One of the Best Books Ive ever read.
Format: Paperback
I read this last January and it was amazing, it was one of the best books I have ever read in my life, it was really sad at times but it was perfectly written, and the story was amazing. It made me by other books by Malinda Lo, she is a very great author.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Historically accurate, coming of age queer love story.
Format: Paperback
A beautifully written, historically accurate coming of age queer love story.
The author even includes in the end a section discussing why she uses the language she does. This is a really good glimpse into the realities of queerness in the '50s and it wasn't all pretty. The unique viewpoint of Asian American life in the '50s prompted some history deep diving on my end and I love when a book prompts further interest in topics you realize you knew very little about. We're all so absorbed in our own worlds and it was a pleasure getting to glimpse into another world that wasn't actually another world at all.
Wonderful young adult read.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2025
★★★★★ 5
An amazing story not to be missed!
Format: Kindle
This just might be my most favorite book of the year! I know we’re only in February, but still! This has long been waiting on my TBR pile and I could kick myself for taking so long to pick this up.
This is a YA historical sapphic tale set in 1950s San Francisco. Lily a high school senior is the epitome of a “good Chinese girl” responsible and respectful. Her world is thrown into a tailspin when she realizes that she likes girls. Accompanying her in this discovery is Kath, a fellow senior and together they find “themselves” under the heady atmosphere of the Telegraph Club.
There was so much to love about this book from the authenticity of the backdrop to the incredibly sweet romance playing out. Malinda Lo has clearly done a ton of research (check out her Author’s note, it’s amazing), you can see it come to life in the rich description of the city, the smokey club, the character mannerisms and interactions. All of which have that ring of reality to it and serves to completely immerse you in that time period.
I loved how Lo slowly built out Lily’s affirmation of who she is from feeling initially guilty about her attraction, to being brave enough to seek out the Telegraph Club to proudly standing up to her beliefs and her love for Kath.
There are lots of side characters and side stories, all serving the purpose of highlighting the political climate, drama and mental makeup of the characters. But my favorite was Lily’s aunt and role model Judy. Her last line “I don’t understand what you’ve been going through, but you’ll just have to put up with me until I do understand.” was just perfect and you know inside that Lily would be okay with Judy in her corner.
That last portion of the book is a lip wobbler so get ready coz it packs a punch and that epilogue was just pure class. No saccharine HEA but something filled with lots of love and hope. The hype is well deserved! So don’t put it off anymore just go read it! Easily 5🌟s
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Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2022
★★★★★ 3
Just checking out this new one
Format: Paperback
It was boaring
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Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2026