John Sutter

by Albert L. Hurtado

"The story of American California begins with the ambitious, elusive, morally compromised life of John Sutter. Thanks to this tirelessly researched and richly detailed biography, the ambiguous life of Sutter the Founder--fully revealed in all its tarnished glory--yields to larger ambiguities of exploitation and empire that continue to disturb the present"--Page 4 of cover.