Customer Reviews

Miwoks to Missiles: A History of Angel Island

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John Soennichsen's spectacular new book Miwoks to Missiles: A History of Angel Island is a must-read for anyone with an interest in Angel Island and it's history. As state park docents, we may each think we already know all we need to know about the human history of the island. But every page for me deepened my perspective and provided a wealth of new information. John is a master of making historical transition readable, entertaining and informative. The author begins with the lives of the indigenous people who used the island for fishing and hunting. He then moves gracefully through the Spanish and Mexican periods and concludes with chapters covering the more modern era: military utilization of the island during our 20th century wars, the dynamics of the creation of the Immigration Station and its many uses, and finally the effort to make the island a bit more angelic in the transition of the Island to state park status. The particular strengths of the book for me are found in the myriad of detail about the early history of the island: the travails of Lt. Ayala and the San Carlos, the voyage of the Racoon, and the "original owner" Antonio Maria Ossio. The later periods were also thoughtfully reassessed. The author's use of archival material-old photos and rare written accounts bring the island and its people to life in dramatic fashion. John Soennichsen is a first rate historian. Unlike most historians, however, our resident author has a sense of humor and is able to punch through the pretentiousness of so many of the people who were in leadership positions during the different island epochs. Filled with stunning photographs and informative sidebars, the book is a really good read that should enchant virtually everyone who picks it up. We must all be grateful to John Soennichsen for providing us with the first thorough and sensitive history of the people and places of Angel Island.

Miwoks To Missiles provides the first complete history of Angel Island, covering over two hundred years of the island's history from Miwok Indian settlements to Spanish exploration and immigrant arrivals. Anecdotes, personal recollections, and source material documents make for an excellent and lively presentation essential for any collection including regional California history.

I was really impressed with this book. The author clearly cares a great deal about the topic, and this kind of book can easily get bogged down in absolute trivia and become dry as dirt. Luckily that isn't the case -- he keeps the story moving without sacrificing the kind of accuracy he desires. Some of this is as simple as putting things in footnotes that other others would have left in the main text, and some is an ability to stick to what's important.