Manuscript Examining Twelve Elections that Shaped and Reshaped California Announced as Winner of 2014 California Historical Society Book Award

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Historical Society (CHS) and Heyday have announced the winner of the 2014 California Historical Society Book Award, selecting Game Changers: Twelve Elections That Changed California, which examines twelve elections that shaped and reshaped California.

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The authors, Steve Swatt, Susie Swatt, Jeff Raimundo, and Rebecca LaVally, who have diverse professional experiences, expertise and knowledge in California politics, will receive a $5,000 advance and publication of the manuscript in both print and eBook format by the California Historical Society and Heyday.

"We are honored to be selected for this award and for the platform it creates to encourage authors to pursue works on California history and politics," said Steve Swatt, on behalf of all the authors.  "We are pleased to have our book on the state's game-changing elections be published, and hope Californians will be intrigued by the stories behind the decisions that have made a difference in their everyday lives."

Game Changers provides a detailed exploration of twelve pivotal elections that have dramatically shaped and reshaped California over the state's nearly 165-year history -- from the early days of graft at the highest echelons to today's storied battles over the influence of monied interests, term limits, and do-it-yourself democracy. With an insider's perspective, the authors masterfully integrate the decisions of voters and the actions of political players with archival materials, oral histories, and interviews.

"Engagingly written and powerfully persuasive, Game Changers allows us to travel through time and slice through the messiness of politics, graft, and power to reach a deeper understanding of these twelve great elections that indelibly changed California," said Anthea M. Hartig, Ph.D., Executive Director of the California Historical Society.

"We are honored to publish this impeccably researched, delightfully literary, and rollickingly lively journey into California's political history," said Malcolm Margolin, Publisher, Heyday. "Game Changers brings a depth of scholarship, civic engagement, and literary excellence to any consideration of why our votes matter and how elections provide a roadmap for future social change."

The California Historical Society Book Award is awarded annually for a book-length manuscript that makes an important contribution to scholarship and deepens public understanding of some aspect of California history. The work must adhere to high scholarly standards and must be lively and engaging to general readers as well. In addition to conventional works of historical scholarship, other genres that are considered include: biographies, collections of letters or essays, photographic or artistic studies, creative nonfiction, or other ways of informing the mind and engaging the imagination in an understanding of California's past.

Finalists for the 2014 California Historical Society Book Award include:  Talking Stone: Rock Art of the Cosos, by Paul Goldsmith (Los Angeles); Cinco de Mayo in the Sierras: Latinos in the Gold Country, 1848–1898, by David Hayes-Bautista (Los Angeles, UCLA); The Grand Emporiums of Old San Francisco: A History of the City's Most Celebrated Department Stores, by Therese Poletti (San Francisco); and, MINE: El Despojo de Maria Zacararias Bernal Berryesa, by Jenny Walicek (San Jose, SJSU).

The California Historical Society Book Award is presented annually and allows CHS to continue its rich publishing tradition, which began in 1874. Heyday, founded in 1974, continues to be an important partner and collaborator with CHS. Together the organizations publish books on topics of California history that strive to transform California's understanding of itself and shape its future.

About Game Changers Authors:  Steve Swatt is a veteran political analyst and public affairs executive, and a former political reporter with twenty-five years of journalism experience with the San Francisco Examiner, United Press International in Los Angeles, and KCRA-TV in Sacramento. Susie Swatt, a member of the National Advisory Council of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, worked nearly forty years as a key staff member in the California Legislature and as special assistant for the Fair Political Practices Commission. Jeff Raimundo is a political consultant who for two decades was a political reporter for the Sacramento Bee. Rebecca LaVally, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor at CSU Sacramento and former UPI Capitol bureau chief and editor of the California Senate Office of Research.

About the California Historical Society:  The California Historical Society is a 143-year-old, non-profit organization with a mission to inspire and empower people to make California's richly diverse past a meaningful part of their contemporary lives. We hold one of the top research collections on California history, which includes over 35,000 volumes of books and pamphlets, more than 4,000 manuscript collections, and about 500,000 photographs documenting California's social, cultural, economic, and political history and development, including some of the most cherished and valuable documents and images of California's past. Learn more at californiahistoricalsociety.org.

About Heyday:  Heyday is an independent, nonprofit publisher and unique cultural institution. We promote widespread awareness and celebration of California's many cultures, landscapes, and boundary-breaking ideas. Through our well-crafted books, public events, and innovative outreach programs we are building a vibrant community of readers, writers, and thinkers. Learn more at www.heydaybooks.com.

Contact:               
Kevin Herglotz
HPA Strategic Communications
415-874-9650  
Email

SOURCE California Historical Society

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http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org