NOW IN PAPERBACK An arresting (In These Times) new history of modern American conservatism, uncovering its roots in the turbulent agricultural fields of Depression-era California

In a reassessment of modern conservatism, noted historian Kathryn S. Olmsted reexamines the explosive labor disputes in the agricultural fields of Depression-era California, the cauldron that inspired a generation of artists and writers and triggered the intervention of FDR's New Deal. Right Out of California, which received a full-page review in the New York Times when it was published in hardcover, tells how this brief moment of upheaval terrified business leaders into rethinking their relationship to American politics--a narrative that pits a ruthless generation of growers against a passionate cast of reformers, writers, and revolutionaries.

At a time when a resurgent immigrant labor movement is making urgent demands on twenty-first-century America--and when a new and virulent strain of right-wing anti-immigrant populism is roiling the political waters--Right Out of California is a fresh and profoundly relevant touchstone for anyone seeking to understand the roots of our current predicament.