James J. Rawls, a native of Washington, D.C., received his B.A. with honors from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author or editor of more than thirty books in California and United States history, including California: An Interpretive History (McGraw-Hill, 10th edition, 2012), A Golden State: Mining and Economic Development in Gold Rush California (University of California Press, 1999), Chief Red Fox is Dead: A History of Native Americans Since 1945 (Harcourt Brace, 1996), California Dreaming (McGraw-Hill, 1995), New Directions in California History (McGraw-Hill, 1988), California: A People, A Place, A Dream (Chronicle Books, 1986), Land of Liberty: A United States History (Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1985), and Indians of California (University of Oklahoma Press, 1984). His most recent publication is On the Way: 100 Reflections on the Journey of Faith (WestBow Press, 2018).
Rawls also is the author of several books for young readers, including two biographies introduced by the late Alex Haley. He served as a consultant for Walt Disney Imagineering in the development of Disney California Adventure theme park and is the editor of a multi-volume children's history series published by Little, Brown & Company. For five years he appeared as Dr. History on KNBR Radio, San Francisco. For more than a quarter century he was the Reviews Editor of the quarterly California History: The Journal of the California Historical Society. Rawls has taught at Diablo Valley College, San Francisco State University, and the University of California, Berkeley; he is a Fellow of the California Historical Society and a recipient of the National Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Texas. He currently serves as a lecturer on voyages worldwide for Lindblad Expeditions and the National Geographic Society.
