This week on The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with Nathaniel “Nat” Philbrick about The Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World (Viking Books).
This episode has been edited for time.
About the book:
In The Rush, Nathaniel Philbrick transforms the California Gold Rush from a tale of sudden riches into the origin story of America’s modern contradictions: capital consolidated at dizzying speed, democracy in thrall to private power, xenophobia weaponized in the name of liberty—and a stubborn belief in the American experiment that refuses to die. This is the story of a nation tearing at the seams—a republic tested by its own ideals.
Philbrick follows the gold as it moves from riverbed to countinghouse to the halls of power, revealing how vigilantism hardened into law and how debates over slavery in the West tipped the balance in Washington. The result is a clear, human story of how a scramble for wealth reshaped ideas of freedom, labor, and belonging—and how California's rise helped push a fractured nation toward war. The Rush is alive with characters whose choices still reverberate: a searing, panoramic epic that captures both the fury and the promise of America.
About Nathaniel:
Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of In the Heart of the Sea, winner of the National Book Award; Mayflower, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Valiant Ambition, winner of the George Washington Prize; Bunker Hill, winner of the New England Book Award; Travels with George; Away Off Shore; Second Wind; Sea of Glory; and The Last Stand.
Nathaniel Philbrick recommends:
The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream by H. W. Brands (Vintage Books)
Days of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the American Nation by Malcolm J. Rohrbough (University of California Press)
The work of James Delgado, e.g. To California by Sea: A Maritime History of the California Gold Rush (University of South Carolina Press)
Lauren Korn recommends:
The Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World (Viking Books) and Why Read Moby-Dick? (Penguin Random House) by Nathaniel Philbrick
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan (Viking Press); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Tim here!
Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World by John Vaillant (Vintage Books); listen to part one and part two of Lauren’s conversation with John!
Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress by Lorissa Rinehart (St. Martin’s Press); listen to a mini episode with Lorissa and Karen Sterk, the CEO of the Jeannette Rankin Foundation, here!
This America of Ours: Bernard and Avis DeVoto and the Forgotten Fight to Save the Wild by Nate Schweber (Mariner Books); listen to Lauren’s conversation with Nate here!
Black Robes Enter Coyote’s World: Chief Charlo and Father De Smet in the Rocky Mountains by Sally Thompson (Bison Books; University of Nebraska Press); listen to part one and part two of Lauren’s conversation with Sally!
Astoria: Astor and Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire: A Tale of Ambition and Survival on the Early American Frontier by Peter Stark (Ecco Press)
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The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Chris Moyles, co-producer, editor, and sound engineer. This episode is supported by Montana Book Co., located in downtown Helena, Montana, since 1978, offering new books for all ages, vinyl records, and community activism. For delivery in Helena and shipping online, visit mtbookco.com.
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Funding for The Write Question comes from members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. A hat-tip to Humanities Montana for supporting this program since 2008.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
